


Souls Entwined

by Thrones_of_War



Series: Entwined File [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Background Alphyne - Freeform, Chara and Frisk Share a Body, Consequences, Female Chara, Male Frisk, Supernatural Being
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-15
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-02 10:14:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 45,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6562342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thrones_of_War/pseuds/Thrones_of_War
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After several Resets, Frisk and Chara have finally managed to co-exist peacefully in the same body and bring the Monsters to the surface. However, all is not well, as their tampering with space and time has drawn the attention of a being with incredible power.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, all. This is my first time using this site, so I apologize in advance if I don't have this all set up correctly, especially given my track record with such things. I will be uploading Souls Entwined every other day, so please feel free to stay tuned. Anyways, I hope you enjoy, and I plan to be sticking around and continuing to write for a good long time to come. IF you have not played Undertale, I suggest you do so, as this will contain spoilers. Seriously, it's five bucks on Steam, and it's so very very worth it.

Flowey gazed over the golden flowers surrounding him, his roots penetrating deep into the earth. This was the closest he ever felt to being at peace. Though, now that he remembered truly being at peace, it was just another thing cruelly torn away from him.

He was the last being in the Underground. He'd combed over the entire place many times in the months since he… no, since Asriel had shattered the barrier. He wasn't sure if he was hoping to find anyone or not, but there was never anyone there. Nobody ever came.

Was it for the best? Perhaps. There was a part of him that was glad that he didn't have the opportunity to hurt anyone anymore. And as for the rest of him… well, ever since Frisk and Chara had managed to work out their differences and co-exist peacefully in the same body… He couldn't beat them even if he wanted to. They always won.

He gave a little smirk, even as his head drooped down until he was facing the earth again, as if the weight of the world had descended once again upon his stem. It had been a long game, and made even longer by Frisk and Chara's constant wrestle for control. It had been amusing to watch, Chara in control, and wreaking havok upon the monsters one moment, and a tear-stained Frisk preparing a reset, vowing not to let this happen again the next.

Flowey still didn't know how Frisk managed to convince Chara to co-operate with him. He… Asriel… had never been able to sway Chara whenever she made her mind up about something. Then again, that boy had always beaten him at his strongest, and had always showed him mercy. Who knew what that kid was capable of, truly?

Lost in thought, trying to stave off the loneliness that ever gripped his soulless body, Flowey didn't feel the slight tremors that indicated footsteps until whoever it was had almost entered the room he was in. He whipped his head up, his face morphing into a hideous smile as he prepared to berate whoever had disturbed his thoughts.

"Frisk, I told you to-"

And he stopped. It wasn't Frisk.

Towering over him, was a man dressed in jet-black robes lined with blood-red silk that gently brushed the floor, obscuring his feet from sight. In one hand, he held a staff; thin at the bottom, but gradually widening until it curved into a bowl-like shape at the top. Red flames danced intricate patterns around the staff, occasionally winking out of existence before reforming again.

Raising his gaze to the figure's face, Flowey's view of it was obstructed by the golden mask he wore over it. It appeared the mask was molded to the face beneath it, however, so he got an impression of a strong nose, pronounced cheekbones, and thick lips pressed together in a permanent sneer. There were holes in the mask for the figure's eyes, and a menacing orange light shone out from them.

Flowey had to fight from cringing back in fear. This… this was different. Flowey had felt the souls of many others before. Human and Monster alike. Even Frisk, with his incredible Determination and Chara with her twisted, pained soul hadn't given him this feeling. It was as if…

As if he was standing before a god.

The being looked down upon him, and this time, Flowey could not hold himself back as he shrank backwards, his petals wilting as he tried to tear himself away from that piercing gaze.

"Who are you?" he hissed. "What do you want?"

The figure said nothing, continuing to stare at Flowey, who desperately wanted to run, to hide. But he couldn't move. He couldn't even burrow into the ground anymore. Finally the being spoke in a deep booming voice.

"This is where the disturbance began. You started it all, did you not?"

"Started what?" Flowey asked, irritation quickly outmatching his fear. After all, he remembered being a god. He stood up straight, glaring at the figure before him.

There was a chuckle from the dark figure, as if it were amused at the arrogant display before him.

"I can see the cracks, the crude repairs all around us." He continued, seemingly oblivious to the yellow flower's question. "Time and space warped, distorted. And, where necessary… broken. You were a major player in that once, were you not?"

"What's it to you?"

This time it was not a chuckle, but a laugh. A dark, menacing laugh that echoed around the room and reverberated down the corridor. Chills ran up and down Flowey's stem. He could feel the power in that laugh, felt the dark intent behind it. It was all so familiar...

As the laugh died down, the dark being released the staff in his hand, and it slowly hovered away to lean against the wall. Both hands now free, he gestured with his right hand towards Flowey and, before he realized what was happening, a dark tendril of energy had plucked the flower from the ground, pulling him up so he was staring his tormenter in the face.

"Wha- Put me down!" Flowey demanded, thrashing wildly in the grip of magic. He tried to call out to his roots, but he had been completely severed from them. He called upon his magic, and fired a hail of bullets at the gold-masked being, but they disintegrated before they even impacted him.

"I can still see it, clinging to your very being. The power to remake the world. **My power**. You housed a part of me once, didn't you?"

Flowey stared agape at the cold expression etched into the gold before him. Fear had sunk icy-cold claws into his heart and refused to let go.

"You should not have toyed with powers beyond your ken, little flower. Had you not begun this "game" of yours, I would never have known that a part of my soul resided in this world. And it is still here, I can feel its presence. All I need to do is follow the cracks, and then..."

The orange glow suddenly shone brighter, blazing like an inferno, and Flowey found he could not look away.

"And because of your meddling, those troublesome Hunters cannot follow me here. I can re-take my soul at my leisure, and there is no-one who can stop me."

"Who…. who are you?" Flowey managed to croak out.

"I am the darkness. I am that which has held all of existence under my command. All once bowed before me, and all shall do so once more. Rejoice, little flower. Because of you, The Defiler will be reborn in the blood of this world."

The light of The Defiler's eyes flared, and Flowey was no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my close friend and co-author for Forging Rifts onward, Petalthorn, made a animatic of this prologue! You can check it out here!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V2puXjsYaU


	2. It's a Gift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toby Fox owns Undetale and all associated characters.

Frisk bent down to finish tying up his shoelaces, then straightened and stretched his back, letting out a wide smile as he did so. He loved the summer months, and this summer had been the best one yet. One of the biggest reasons for that was currently in the kitchen, baking something delicious.

"Frisk, dear." Toriel called out. "You'll make sure to be back here in an hour, right? And don't let Sans feed you any junk while you're out there! You want plenty of room for the pie, yes?"

"Yes, Mom!" Frisk replied happily. It still felt so good to be able to call someone that, especially someone as nice as Toriel. Just thinking about it made him run back into the kitchen and throw his arms around the furry boss monster, tackling her about the waist as she let out a surprised "Ooof" and stumbled backwards.

Laughing, Toriel returned the hug, lifting the twelve-year-old up so that he could rest his head gently on her shoulder. They stayed like that for a few moments before Toriel lowered him back to the ground, smiling at him while he wiped off the flour that had been smeared across his favourite blue and red striped shirt upon his initial tackle.

"Well, maybe you should be more careful about hugging me while I'm baking!" Toriel brushed some of the powder off her apron, frowning at the bits that got stuck in her white fur.

"Now go on; I'm sure Sans is waiting for you. You don't want to keep him, do you?"

Frisk shook his head, but still wrapped his arms around Toriel's leg one last time before darting out the door and into the outside, Toriel smiling fondly after him.

 

**I thought you were in a hurry to get to Sans. What's with the long goodbyes?** Chara's voice echoed in Frisk's head.

_I gave her an extra hug for you._ Frisk replied, walking briskly down the sidewalk. There were few cars going down the road, as they were still in the Monster segment of the city. While Humans and Monsters were getting accustomed to living with each other, they still lived in separate districts for now. Still, Frisk hoped that soon that would no longer be necessary.

**Hmpf.**

Frisk just smiled at Chara's dismissive tone. As far as he was concerned, it was just her way of saying thanks. The fact that she wasn't trying to kill everyone anymore and seemed content remaining as an observer in the background most of the time spoke volumes to how far she had come.

They remained silent for the rest of the way to the park, though Frisk would wave to every Monster he saw on the street, giving out bright smiles like they were going out of style. He liked the Monsters. Each and every one of them returned his wave and smile as soon as they saw him.

It was a little harder to keep his good mood as he left the Monster district and entered the rest of the city. There were a lot more people here, and most of them weren't nearly as friendly. He had to dodge out of the way of taller people hurrying down the sidewalks, hunched over with their faces pressed so near to their phones or Ipads that Frisk had to wonder if any of them ever accidentally walked into a wall. He giggled at the thought, ducking in between a pair of legs as he did so. There might be a lot of people here, but after the many fights in the Underground he could easily avoid being trampled.

As he reached a crosswalk and waited for the lights to turn from red to green, Frisk felt Chara's presence move to the forefront of his mind. He had a sudden mental image of her watching the scene around them, her hands balled into fists, looking like she might attack at any moment. Her eyes darted from person to person, probably trying to gauge whether or not they were a threat. Frisk was both comforted and a bit annoyed at her reaction, though it wasn't unexpected. She was _always_ like this around other Humans.

_They're not gonna attack us you know._ Frisk told Chara gently, sprinting onto the crosswalk as soon as the light turned.

**Well, of course you'd think that, you** always **see the best in everybody. I have to share this body, and I'm not letting it get wrecked because you think everyone can be reasoned with.**

_I reasoned with you._ Frisk pointed out. Chara folded her arms and huffed in annoyance.

**Took a lot of Resets though, didn't it?** She countered. **We've already died enough times, and I'm not too keen on doing it again. Besides, ever since we left the Underground, between the two of us we can barely make a Save File.**

She did have a point there. Since leaving the Underground it had become harder and harder to Save, even with Chara and Frisk working together. He wasn't even sure they could Load anymore, and wasn't too keen on trying. Even if it worked, Sans would be really mad that they'd sent the timeline back just for a test.

An image flashed through Frisk's mind of Sans standing in a golden hallway, his eye glowing blue and four massive dog skulls forming behind him, energy charging in their mouths. He shuddered. No, he definitely didn't want to see Sans angry again.

**Hey! Watch out!**

Frisk shook his head and looked up in surprise, not realizing he had zoned out. His gaze focused on a streetlight pole that he had been about to walk into. He smiled.

_Thanks, Chara._

**Pay more attention, idiot! I've already got to listen to you in here; I don't need another headache on top of that!**

The boy's grin only widened at Chara's insult. He walked around the pole and stepped onto grass, realizing with a start that they were already at the park. He must really have zoned out for a while. He cast his gaze around for any sign of Sans.

There weren't a lot of people at the park, just about anyone who was outside this time of day would be down at the beach. But that suited Frisk just fine, especially since it meant Chara wouldn't be so jumpy. There was a main paved walkway that traversed the length of the park, and several side paths that sprung away from it, disappearing into the foliage. Frisk had been surprised to learn that this city basically had an entire forest in its park, where he had come from there had only been…

But that wasn't important. Frisk started walking determinedly down the main walkway. If he knew Sans, he would be down here somewhere. Or he would suddenly appear behind him using his "shortcuts". Regardless, Sans had promised to be here, so there was no doubt in Frisk's mind that he would be.

It wasn't long at all until he saw Sans up ahead, leaning against a yellow hot-dog cart that had the word "dog" crossed out in red paint and the word "cat" painted below it. Despite the heat, he was still wearing his favorite blue hoodie. Come to think of it, Frisk couldn't remember a time he had seen Sans without it, no matter the weather. Glaringly clashing with the hoodie were the bright yellow shorts that barely reached his knees. The skeleton's eyes were half closed, and he didn't appear to have noticed Frisk yet.

**I can't believe that** all **the monsters still work. They've all got enough money to last for centuries! Why bother?**

It was true. When they had first come to the surface, it had quickly become apparent that the gold that monsters used as currency was actually a hybrid material, a combination of mineral and pure magical energy. While this was common enough Underground, magic had completely disappeared on the surface before the Monsters returned. Frisk remembered Toriel saying that made the Monster's gold incredibly valuable on the surface. It had certainly helped smooth the integration process. If there was one thing Humans liked, it was an opportunity for more material gain.

However, despite the fact that most Monsters found themselves to be very wealthy, the truth was that most Monsters enjoyed working. Not only did it give them something to do, but it allowed them to interact with their Human neighbors. So most of their currency from the Underground was set aside as backup funding for emergencies and such.

Unfortunately, Chara still had trouble grasping the idea that they should tolerate other Humans, let alone befriend them, so Frisks' only reply to her question was a shrug as he caught the short skeleton's gaze and gave a cheerful wave.

Sans straightened and opened his eyes fully, the twin pinpricks of light in his sockets gently locking onto him as his bare feet clattered against the pavement.

"Hey buddy. Glad you could make it, I was beginning to worry you'd been caught in a traffic _marmalade_."

Frisk let out a snort at Sans's joke. Chara groaned.

"It's a real nice day out isn't it? Whaddya say, feel like taking a walk before your mom throws her little dinner party?"

Frisk nodded eagerly and stood off to the side while Sans locked up the stand before walking down the main pathway. Frisk quickly caught up and walked side-by-side with the skeleton.

Frisk had a lot of friends among the monsters, more than he ever thought he would be capable of. But Sans was special. He looked up to the laid-back skeleton. He remembered how scared he had been when he exited the Ruins for the first time. Sans had been his friend when he needed one most. And if it wasn't for him…

Frisk blinked as he realized that Sans had stopped walking and was looking at him with concern in his eyes.

"Uh, Frisk? You okay there, buddy?"

Frisk nodded before tapping his head with a finger. He didn't like talking unless he really needed to, and most of the Monsters had picked up on at least a little of his non-verbal communication.

"Lost in thought, eh? What's got you thinking so hard on a day like this?"

Frisk just pointed at him, smiling brightly.

Sans stood still for a moment, then shook his head and resumed walking.

"Ya know I'm right here, right kid? You don't have to be thinking about me when I'm right in front of you, ya know. Little weirdo."

Sans reached out a hand and ruffled Frisk's hair. The boy giggled and caught the hand before Sans could pull it away. He gripped the bony digits with his own and sighed contentedly at the feel of the smooth bone beneath his skin. Sans let out a chuckle.

"Bit clingy there, aren't you? Don't let my brother see you doing that, or else we're gonna have to re-attach his jaw when we find it. He still thinks you haven't gotten over him."

Frisk would have laughed, but the sudden image of Papyrus' head falling clean off it's shoulders and into the snow suddenly pierced his mind. He tried to shove the thoughts away, but they took some time to fade. He vaguely realized that he had tightened his grip on Sans's hand and loosened it a little.

"You alright, Frisk?"

Frisk nodded slowly, and Sans didn't say anything more about it. But Frisk got the feeling he knew exactly what had flashed through his mind just then. He was a lot smarter than he let on. The boy was grateful he didn't let go of his hand.

They walked on in silence, though Frisk continued to wave at passersby, Human and Monster alike. He always found people were more friendly in the park. Maybe more friendly people came to places like this? Or they became more friendly here? It was something he'd have to think about later.

"So, Frisk." Sans asked, breaking the child out of his reverie. Frisk turned a questioning gaze up to the skeleton, who scratched the back of his head before looking down at him.

"Hate to ask this, but how's your… passenger?"

He said "passenger" with the same vehemence that someone else might have said "vermin." Frisk was silent for a few moments, so Sans continued.

"I know you said that she doesn't want to hurt anyone anymore but… I remember those other timelines. It might be a bit blurry, but I remember what she did. And last time… I wasn't even sure you were still in there anymore. It's hard to think that after that, everything settles down to be… _this_ , you know?"

Chara was silent, leaving it up to Frisk to answer. He understood Sans's view. Frisk and Chara had been fighting for control so long, the last timeline Chara had simply overpowered him. She'd brought them through the Underground slaughtering everything in her path and hunting down those that weren't. And with every kill she got stronger. Frisk had watched helplessly as they had all fallen to her knife, and his feeble cries of protest were drowned out by her laughter.

But that was before. Chara was better now! She was still a little rude, and maybe she still wasn't the best person, but she wasn't nearly as angry as she had been before.

Frisk tightened his grip on the skeleton's hand.

"She won't hurt anyone, Sans." He declared quietly. "It's going to be okay."

"I trust you kid. Not so sure about the other one in there. Just… let me know if it looks like she's gonna try to take over, alright?"

Frisk nodded. Sans looked at him again before peering up at the sun, shading his eyes to protect them from the glare.

"Well, judging by that thing I 'd say it's about time to get back to your mom's place. Let's go, kid; I know a shortcut."

 

True to his word, they were back at Toriel's house in a matter of seconds. Frisk giggled as the tingling sensation that always accosted him after using one of Sans' shortcuts tickled him all the way down.

Frisk could already smell the dinner that Toriel was preparing and eagerly rushed to the house as he and Sans exited from the shortcut. The scent only got stronger as he opened the door, overpowering his other senses as he was hit with an array of delicious aromas. Sans caught up to him as he took off his shoes at the door. The skeleton gave Frisk an exaggerated wink and shuffled off into the dining room. From the sounds coming from there, it seemed like some of the guests had already arrived.

Frisk knew that Toriel didn't like people in the kitchen just before a meal, so he followed the skeleton's example and entered the dining room himself.

The large rectangular table was already set, a task that Frisk and Toriel had accomplished earlier. Papyrus, Sans and Asgore were already seated at the table. Mettaton was back in town for a while after touring across the country so he was supposed to be here too. He was often late, however, so it didn't surprise him that he wasn't here yet.

"Human! You've arrived just in time!" Papyrus exclaimed. "Did you see Mettaton on your way back?

Frisk shook his head as he took his own seat beside Asgore, who gave him a quiet smile.

"Don't worry, Paps. I'm sure he'll be here. He probably just _met a ton_ of fans on the way."

Papyrus let out an enraged shriek while the other occupants of the table chuckled. Toriel walked into the room holding platters of food in her arms.

"Did I miss something?" She inquired, a smile gracing her lips.

"Just another _skelepun_." Asgore quipped, earning another laugh while Papyrus began beating his head against the table.

"Well, perhaps we should stop before Papyrus _cracks up_." Toriel grinned, placing platters of spaghetti, salad and snail pie on the table and sitting down. As soon as she settled into the chair however, there was a loud farting noise that lasted far longer than it should have before trailing away.

Toriel's gaze instantly shot to Sans, her expression grim as she locked eyes with the skeleton. Everyone had gone silent, and the tension was quickly rising.

**Hah! Dumb skeleton went too far this time.** Chara gloated.

Seconds ticked by and still not a single word had been said. Toriel and Sans remained locked in a staring contest. Frisk could see his mother shaking.

Toriel slowly reached down behind her, and pulled out a deflated whoopee cushion from underneath her. She let it dangle in clear view of everyone before letting it fall to the floor.

Finally, she broke, letting out a loud laugh that momentarily startled everyone. She put her head in her hand and propped her elbows up on the table.

"How do you do that?" She asked as she finally began to settle down. "I was watching the chair! There wasn't anything there when I went to sit down!"

"It's a gift."

The atmosphere in the room relaxed and Frisk let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding in.

**I don't get it.** Chara mumbled. **I thought she was gonna tear him apart for that.**

_That's because you don't have a sense of humor._ Frisk informed her, heaping their mother's cooking onto his plate. He ignored Chara's image sticking her tongue out at him.

Just as he was about to take a bite, he thought he heard a door opening somewhere in the house. Was someone else here, or…

"Hello, darlings!" Suddenly there was Mettaton, already seated across from Frisk like he'd been there the whole time. The boy had hardly seen him move.

"Apologies for being late, I got held up in traffic." He huffed dramatically. "Apparently I cannot go _anywhere_ these days without being swarmed by fans."

"You know you love it." Sans grinned.

Mettaton heaved a sigh.

"I _do_. But it does make appointments much more difficult to keep up with. I'd get Blooky to keep their attention, but, well, you know how he is. Oh! Before I forget, Alphys and Undyne send their apologies for not being here, they got caught up with work."

"Are they alright?" Toriel asked worriedly.

Mettaon waved a hand vaguely as he helped himself to the pie.

"Apparently Alphys is working on some special project with the Human/Monster science team. You should have seen her ordering people around." He chuckled. "I think Undyne's been a good influence on her. Speaking of, apparently our beloved fish-lady is wrapping up the final parts of that rather nasty case from last week. Something along those lines anyway, she was yelling a lot when I spoke with her."

"I don't know about you all, but I certainly feel safer knowing Undyne is chief of police around here." Asgore supplemented.

There was a consensus of nods from around the table. Apparently, the crime rate in the city had gone way down since Undyne had taken charge. Frisk was not surprised.

"So Papyrus, darling," Mettaton turned his attention to the skeleton who was shoveling away spaghetti like it was his last meal. "How have things been around here since I've been away? If I recall, you were looking into bar-tending, how did that work out for you?"

"It was an incredible success!" Papyrus gushed. He was always so excited when his idol paid attention to him. "Of course it was; the Great Papyrus never fails at anything! There was an empty building just wasting space a few blocks outside of the Monster district, so I decided to set up my own pub! And I'm happy to say it's completely grease-free." He shot a glare at Sans, who had produced a bottle of ketchup from beneath his hoodie and was proceeding to drink it.

"And despite that, it's still not terrible."

"So, you run your own place now?" Mettaton asked, clearly impressed.

"Of course! And it's been a great success! We even made it an… er.. all-access pub, I think? So that Frisk can come visit me! He's only allowed to drink apple juice, though."

Frisk gave the skeleton a thumbs up.

"You really put a lot of effort into setting the place up. We're all very proud of you, Papyrus." Asgore rumbled.

Papyrus blushed and hunched over in an attempt to hide it.

"Wowie! Thank you, your majesty!"

"Technically I'm-"

"What's it called, Papyrus dear?" Mettaton interrupted. "I'll have to come pay a visit before I go back on tour."

Papyrus stared at Mettaton for a moment.

"R-really? Mettaton inside The Great Papyrus? Wowie!"

Frisk looked around curiously as the other adults went silent and was surprised to see that almost every one of them had a blush coloring their cheeks. Sans was the only one who seemed immune to whatever was going on, his only reaction seemed to be a slightly wider grin. Finally, Toriel cleared her throat.

"He named his pub "The Great Papyrus", Mettaton."

"Oh. Oh! Oh, of course, how silly of me to think otherwise." Mettaton quickly got his cool back, though there was still a hint of a blush on his cheeks. Papyrus seemed to be oblivious to the whole awkward moment that had been shared around the room.

_Grown-ups are weird._

**You said it.**

 

After dinner, Frisk went into the living room and began quietly playing in the corner near the TV. Asgore was busy helping Toriel clean up after the meal and Papyrus had left early. Sans was slumped on the couch, his eyes half-closed as he stared at the blank television. He looked like he was about to pass out.

That is, until Mettaton made an appearance.

"So, Sans, darling." He drawled, plopping himself onto the other side of the couch and startling the Skeleton's eyesockets open. "A little bird told me you were looking into Alphys's research?"

"Heh. Musta been a heron, cause that's one _tall tale_ you're telling over there."

"Ah-ah-ah!" Mettaton admonished, waggling a finger at him. "You can't get rid of me that easily, darling. I had a few scuffs after my tour from some of the more… _rambunctious_ fans, and I had Alphys patch me up before I came over here. She told me all about it." The ghost-turned-robot let out a huff and stood up.

"But, if you don't want to hear it, then I guess-"

"Wait!" Sans called out. Then he slapped his hands over his mouth as Mettaton gave him a triumphant smirk before seating himself again. Sans sighed.

"Alright, you win. So I'm interested. What does it matter?"

"Well, since Alphys seems insistent on remaining in her hidey-hole," the glamourous robot huffed in annoyance. "I thought it would be neighborly to pass on her findings to you, since you were interested. I don't understand why though, it's so utterly boring."

"Well, Human souls are so much different than they were when Monsters were sealed underground. Figured it'd be handy to know why."

"Well then, I'm assuming that you know that Human souls are much weaker than they used to be, correct?" Sans nodded. "Well, Alphys and her team did some research to discover just how much Human souls had waned. She even brought in Asgore and Gerson, since they remember the time before Monsters were locked away. And what they found…"

Mettaton paused for dramatic effect. Frisk had stopped playing and was listening intently to the conversation. He could tell that Chara was paying close attention too.

As the pause lengthened, Sans spoke up, leaning forwards.

"Mettaton, I swear to god-"

Another huff.

"No sense of drama, I tell you! Fine. We knew that Human souls had weakened, but just how much so was another matter entirely. It appears… that they are now comparable to Monster souls."

Sans sat bolt upright.

"Wha- how is that possible?"

Mettaton waved a hand vaguely.

"Oh, Alphys has a few theories. She seems to think it's somehow connected with the absence of magic on the surface. Well, at least until we brought it back. Apparently, human souls are still slightly stronger than ours, mostly because of something Alphys referred to as Determination, but apparently even that's much weaker than it once was. Seems the balance has shifted since we were away, eh?"

Sans had his skull in his hands, and Frisk thought he could see flashes of blue from behind the bony digits. He was about to head over to him when the skeleton's head snapped up and he locked his gaze on Mettaton.

"Wait, if Human souls are so much weaker now, how did the barrier get shattered? And with only six souls, since Frisk didn't use his?"

"Well, I don't remember any more of that battle than you do, but Alphys wondered the same thing. Apparently, when a Human is born, that is when their soul is at it's strongest. As they age, the soul gets progressively weaker. by the time they've become an adult, it's been completely reduced."

"And all of the souls Asgore collected were… children." Sans realized, slumping back onto the couch.

"Precisely!" The robot beamed. Then he turned his attention to Frisk. "And our little hero here saved the day somehow. You really are an exceptional boy, aren't you my little star?"

Frisk shrugged, but couldn't help from grinning at the compliment.

**Asriel was the real hero.**

Frisk nodded in silent agreement. If it wasn't for his sacrifice, the barrier would never have been broken. But he had made them promise not to tell anyone about his contribution. And Frisk… had to accept that.


	3. Brown eyes closed, red eyes opened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a change of plans here, usually I upload my stories twice a week, but I think I'll be uploading Souls Entwined daily here. Since it took me a while to get into here, I've got a ton of content finished already, might as well see about catching up. So if you're enjoying the story... there's lots more to come.

Frisk woke up fully refreshed the next morning. Sunlight was pouring through his window into the small room that he shared with Chara. Fortunately, she didn't take up a lot of space.

There was room for a his small bed, a dresser and a bit of extra space, and that was about it. The walls were blue with yellow flowers painted on them. Frisk had insisted on the flowers, he knew Chara found them comforting.

_Morning, Chara!_ He said happily, heading downstairs in search of breakfast.

**nnngh, why are we up already? It's so bright out here…**

_C'mon, it's still summertime! We've gotta enjoy it while it lasts, before school starts again._

**mrrrgh, jus' don't do anything stupid while 'm sleeping, kay?**

_You'll feel better after we have some Monster food._ Frisk assured her, heading into the kitchen. There was no sign of the massive amount of cooking that had been needed to accomplish last nights meal, which came as no surprise to Frisk. Toriel genuinely enjoyed her work, and she had Asgore with her last night. He was always willing to help out above and beyond what he was asked when it came to Toriel.

Frisk noticed a note on the fridge, and went up to it curiously.

Dear Frisk.  
I have already left the house, there are several errands I must attend to, and I expect to be gone most of the day. You may help yourself to the leftovers in the fridge, and I should be home in time to make dinner.  
Be good, alright?  
Toriel

Frisk smiled. The last time she had been out all day on "errands", he had found out that she had been visiting Asgore while he was at work gardening. It had taken her a long time for her to begin to forgive him, and the fact that she had invited him to their dinner last night was a good sign. Frisk would like to be able to call Asgore "Dad", and Chara still did regardless.

He opened the fridge, selecting a large slice of the snail pie, as well as a small helping of the spaghetti in the container marked "Human food". While Monster food could sustain a Human for a while, it was mostly made of magic, and lacked many of the nutrients needed to sustain Human life long-term, so Toriel had learned how to cook human food for him as well.

Of course, Monster food also had very few of the negative effects of Human food, it would not cause a Human to gain weight and contained no calories. This had also helped greatly with the Monster's integration into Human society. It had become an incredibly popular dieting staple. As long as you ate healthy regular food, you could theoretically gorge yourself on Monster food without any negative repercussions.

As these thoughts ran through his head, Frisk mused that it was a good thing that he and Chara could not actually hear each other's thoughts. He spent a lot of time thinking about strange things, and Chara probably wouldn't appreciate it if she had to listen to them.

As Frisk ate, Chara slowly began waking up. While Monster food might not have much effect on the human body, it certainly helped to rejuvenate the soul, and Chara generally needed that boost to get her going in the mornings.

**You're really serious about this whole, "Staying up" thing, aren't you?**

Frisk looked over to where an old round alarm clock sat on the counter, checking the time.

_It's nearly eight-thirty, and I want to go visit Papyrus before his pub gets too noisy._

**You got the whole day planned out then?**

_Not really, I just wanna hang with Papyrus._

 

After breakfast, and with a now fully restored Chara, Frisk left the house and walked happily down the sidewalk. It was another beautiful day with nary a cloud in the sky. It was a Saturday as well, and so Frisk was not surprised to see many Monsters outside, sitting in their lawns or walking down the street, obviously enjoying the sun's light. After living Underground their whole lives, the novelty of the sun had not yet worn off. Frisk wondered if it ever would.

Fortunately, Papyrus's bar wasn't very far away. It was just outside the Monster district, so it wouldn't take very long to walk there. Other than Grillby's, it was the only Monster-run bar in the city, and it was the only one that had Human regulars.

As he rounded the corner, he saw the large, single-story building that was The Great Papyrus. It looked like it had once been a gym, but it had been in ill-repair when Papyrus got his boney hands on it. Now, it was probably one of the cleanest establishments in the city.

As he neared the door, he heard loud noises coming from inside. He couldn't make out the words, but it sounded like someone was shouting. He frowned. There usually weren't very many people there this early in the morning, and they were usually pretty quiet. Even at it's loudest, there was rarely shouting, just a lot of background noise that drowned everything else out. What was going on in there?

Frisk pushed open the old-western style saloon doors and stepped inside. As he had expected, there were only a few people inside the immaculate establishment, and they were all huddled in a corner looking over to the bar where the shouting was taking place.

Frisk checked to see what the commotion was about, and quickly relaxed. It looked like Undyne and Papyrus were having an argument.

"Dammit, Papyrus, just hand over the bottle! It takes more than a few drinks to defeat me!"

Undyne's voice was already slightly slurred, and she shook an empty glass at Papyrus, She was dressed in casual clothing, wearing torn jeans and a black tank-top.

"Undyne, you've already had four bottles of my specialty whisky! You know the rule: at The Great Papyrus, if you drink four bottles, you must talk about your feelings before you have another!"

"I'm just frustrated, alright? Now hand over the bottle, nerd!"

Undyne tried to swipe the full bottle Papyrus was holding away from her, but her aim was off and she missed completely, even though Papyrus didn't make a move. His skull was creased into a worried expression and he put the bottle down well out of the fish lady's reach.

"Undyne, I'm worried about you. I know you only come here when something's bothering you, and I, the great Papyrus, am always here for you!"

Undyne slammed her head forcefully into the the bar and cried out in frustration into the wooden surface. Frisk approached cautiously and took a seat on the stool next to Undyne's before tugging on the warrior's arm.

"Ah, Frisk!" Papyrus called, finally noticing the small human. "I did not hear you come in! Would you like some apple juice?"

Frisk nodded, and Papyrus quickly busied himself sorting through the array of bottles on the shelf behind him, giving out the occasional "nyeh" as he did so.

Undyne had not yet raised her head from the bar, so Frisk tugged again, harder this time. She let out a groan and raised her head, staring blearily at the boy. Now that he was able to get a good look at her, Undyne seemed kind of disheveled. There were bags under her eyes, and her gaze was unfocussed. He gave her a concerned look and tilted his head questioningly.

"You too, huh, punk?" she muttered, looking away. "Don't worry about me, I can handle it."

"We're your friends, Undyne!" Papyrus said, returning with a cup of juice for Frisk, sliding it across the bar at him. "And we want to help you! Isn't that right, Frisk?"

The boy nodded his head determinedly. Seeing this, Undyne gave a loud sigh.

"You guys aren't gonna quit, are you?"

"Never! Now come on, face down your feelings like they were your worst enemy! You're the great Undyne! I know you can do it!"

Undyne still didn't look so great, but a spark was re-kindled in her eye upon hearing Papyrus quote her favourite motivational line. She leaned into the table and stared blankly into space as she spoke.

"It's Alphys. I haven't seen her in almost three weeks! She says she's working on some super special project, and she's always home late! No matter how late I stay up, all I've seen of her are little notes she leaves me in the mornings." She sighed and rubbed her head. "I've tried going to her workplace, but she's always out or in some room they won't let me into because of "dangerous materials" or some such bullsh- uhhh, nonsense. I just… I miss her."

Frisk opened his arms gave an inviting glance to Undyne. She looked at him with a strange expression for a moment, before sighing and picking him up and crushing him into her.

**Hey, watch it! We've gotta breathe in here, you know!**

Frisk ignored Chara and the crushing sensation as he hugged Undyne back with all his might.

"Thanks squirt. Damn, I shouldn't-"

She was cut off Papyrus leapt over the bar and wrapped boney arms around the two of them.

"Nyeh heh heh! I knew you could do it, Undyne! Now for the second stage of exposing your feelings! Group hug!"

"Wait, Papyrus, I don't think-"

"Everyone!" Papyrus called out, turning his skull to face the other occupants of the bar who had been staring unashamedly at the display. "Another victory for the great Papyrus! Come and celebrate with us, friends!"

"C'mon Papyrus, that's not necessary!"

But it was too late. This was not an uncommon happenstance at The Great Papyrus, and the regulars here already knew the drill. Frisk, Papyrus and Undyne were quickly surrounded by the remainder of the pub's occupants who cheered and shouted encouragement as they piled onto the trio.

Despite her protests, Undyne was smiling widely, and within a few moments, she was cheering on with the rest of them. When the group dispersed, she wrapped an arm around Papyrus's shoulders, rubbing his skull with her knuckles in an affectionate noogie.

"Yeah, you guys are right! I'm Undyne, and it takes more than this to get me down! I'm gonna go to Alphys's lab right now and drag her outside whether she likes it or not!"

**I'm sure that'll go over well. Chara remarked, a hint of amusement in her voice.**

"That's the spirit!" Papyrus exclaimed. "We're rooting for you, Undyne!"

Frisk gave her a thumbs up. It said more than his words could manage anyway.

"Thanks, punks! Looks like I trained you both well! Fuhuhuhu!"

And just like that, she was gone, sprinting out the door so fast and that Frisk was surprised she didn't smash through it.

Papyrus walked back around to stand behind the bar and grinned widely at Frisk.

"I think that went very well. What do you think, human?"

Frisk gave Papyrus a wide smile. Though he was sure that Alphys's lab might not appreciate an energetic Undyne bursting in, he was glad they'd managed to get Undyne back to her former self. He didn't like seeing her so demoralized.

"Of course! The great Papyrus never loses! Nyeh heh heh!"

 

**Do you** have **to skip down the street?** Chara grumbled. **It makes us look like an idiot.**

They had stayed at The Great Papyrus for a couple hours before more people started showing up, and Frisk had left, waving goodbye to his friend. Now, he was just enjoying being outside in the sun.

_You_ always _think I look like an idiot._ Frisk replied, continuing to skip while keeping an eye on the sidewalk to avoid the cracks, humming a little tune he'd heard from Toriel as he did so.

_C'mon Chara, it's such a pretty day! Doesn't that make you happy?_

There was no response, and Frisk shook his head, though he maintained a wide smile while doing so. Maybe later he would text Alphys and see how Undyne's visit had gone. He was sure that would be an interesting story.

He was broken from his reverie by the sound of shouting up ahead. Frowning, he stopped skipping and ran towards the sound, which was coming from a large baseball field. Normally he would have chalked up the shouting to be a practice run or something, but something felt off and he had learned to trust his instincts.

Sure enough, as he skidded around the bleachers, he saw a group of human kids, maybe seven in all. They were mostly around his age or younger, and they were harassing a quivering group of Moldsmals. They were jeering and throwing stones at the gelatinous Monsters and Frisk could see that a few of them had already been hurt by the onslaught.

Frisk shouted as loud as he could, which in the end wasn't very loud, but it was enough to turn the attention away from the Moldsmals and towards him. He raced towards the children when an older kid stepped forward.

**Probably the instigator.** Chara remarked, a slight smile on her image's face. 

Frisk ignored her, and planted himself between the Moldsmals and the boys. He stretched out his arms, trying to give them as much cover as he could while he put on his most Determined face as he stared at the Humans. 

"Stop." He said, quietly, but firmly. There was an undeniable force behind his words, and some of the kids looked nervously at each other. The older kid, however, just grinned and took a step forwards, tossing a rock carelessly into the air and catching it a few times. 

Frisk took stock of the boy. He was definitely bigger than him, and probably stronger, too. He was wearing ripped jeans and a torn T-shirt, and had a skewed red baseball cap on backwards. Dark green eyes glared out from underneath bushy blonde eyebrows and the grin he wore sported several chipped teeth. 

"Well, if it isn't the Ambassador." The kid bowed mockingly before him. "What do you think you're doing, coming 'round here all high and mighty?" 

Frisk shook his head, not giving an inch of ground as he stared at the boy. The other kids were whispering behind him, but he appeared not to notice. His smile turned ugly. 

"That's right, you don't talk much do you? You prefer action. Action like bringing these worthless Monsters to the surface!" 

He wound back and let fly with the rock. Frisk prepared to dodge it, it would be easy. But he suddenly realized that if he did, it might hit the Moldsmals that were quivering behind him. They were confused and scared… He couldn't let anything happen to them. So he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as the stone crashed into his chest. He stumbled back from the impact, desperately trying not to cry out in pain. 

Then he stood straight and took a step forwards, resuming his earlier position and staring the bully dead in the eye. 

One of the younger kids tugged on his elder's sleeve, but he never broke eye contact with Frisk. 

"Toby? We… We were just gonna hurt Monsters, this kid's Human. We could get-" 

Toby spat on the ground right in front of Frisk's shoes. 

**I don't like his attitude.**

"Don't you see? He's protecting them! He's a filthy Monster lover, which means he's as bad as they are! My Pa says Monsters aren't people, so they don't count." He looked away from Frisk to glare around at his gang, stooping for another stone as he did so. 

"C'mon, what are you, wimping out on me? Don't tell me you're a bunch of Monster lovers too!" 

There was a chorus of nays from the other kids and suddenly each of them had a stone in their hands. Seven stones… That would hurt a lot… 

"We don't have to fight. No-one needs to get hurt." 

Toby looked outraged at Frisk's statement. 

"Hurt? Hurt?!" He threw his stone. Unlike the other one, this one was pointed and it slashed a bloody gouge down Frisk's arm. 

"You hurt everyone when you let Monsters come to the surface! You should have left them in the dark where they belong! Where _you_ belong! Monster Child!" 

Another stone flew, and in the next moment, all of them were in the air, whistling towards Frisk while the kids mocked him. Frisk crouched down, covering his face with his arms as he was pelted. Some of the stones didn't have much force behind them, but the ones that did… 

Frisk let out an involuntary cry of pain as a large rock crashed into his knee. The kids were laughing now. Why did they have to be so cruel? 

**I don't think you're going to be able to get out of this one by wiggling your hips.** Chara whispered to him. **Why don't you let** me **handle this?**

Frisk hesitated. He didn't know what he could do to stop them from attacking, and he had to protect the Moldsmals so running wasn't an option either. Another rock bounced off his shoulder. Maybe Chara could… 

_Don't hurt anyone, okay?_

**Whatever.**

Brown eyes closed. Most of the kids were stooping for more stones, but Toby still had one and let fly. Chara's arm whipped out and caught the rock in mid-air causing the others to pause. 

Red eyes opened. 

Chara stood up straight, ignoring the pain in her knee. They had already noticed that her eyes had changed and the whispering had begun anew. 

She was still holding the rock. 

**Let's see, bruised knee, bloody forearm, kinda hurts to breathe… you should have let me deal with this from the start.**

Frisk refused to answer. 

**Tsk. How immature.**

She refocused her attention on the kids around her and gave a bright smile. 

"H-Hey! What happened to your eyes?!" Toby blustered. 

"I'm only going to say this once." Chara said, her voice smooth and sickly sweet. "And only because I'm such a nice person. You can leave now and promise never to hurt Monsters again, or…" 

Chara released a small portion of her power, easily allowing her to grind the stone in her hand to powder. She opened the hand allowing the Humans before her to see what she had done. There were shocked gasps and worried murmurs from the kids, and she could hear more than a few stones being dropped back to the ground. 

But Toby, it seemed, was determined to prove himself an idiot. He balled his hands into fists and stepped forward. Chara noted with amusement that he was shaking. Only just, but it caused her to grin even wider. 

"Y-you don't scare me, Monster Child!" Ah well, he was almost able to keep his voice steady. But let's face it, he was still no threat compared to what she had fought before. 

"Monster Child? I think I like that." Chara mused. "But seriously, go away or else…" Her voice trailed off as she reached for inspiration. "You're really not going to like what comes next." 

Chara's mental image of Frisk flinched at the words, and Chara herself could barely suppress a shudder at the all-too familiar sensation of her sins crawling on her back. Too bad. It was a really good line too. Maybe she'd have to work on her own phrases...

She didn't react as Toby threw a punch at her, not until the last second anyway. She leaned back, the fist whistling in front of her face. Then the grin was back. She leapt forward, planting a fist of her own into the boys stomach, knocking all of the wind out of him and sending him staggering back. Before he could recover, she lashed out with her uninjured leg and tripped him, sending the bully flat onto his back. Chara just managed to get her feet back under her before she collapsed. Damn, that knee really hurt… 

**You really let them do a number on us. Maybe next time,** I **should do the talking.**

She didn't wait for a response though, and she dropped onto Toby, her elbow extended into a vicious blow that had him finally cry out in pain. She stood, trying to hide how shaky she was on her legs and looked triumphantly around at the other kids. 

Or… apparently not as they weren't there. She could faintly make out some of them running away into the distance. Chara let out a joyful laugh. God, it felt good to kick some ass again. The twerp usually managed to resolve things peacefully, and that was always his go-to. Speaking of which… 

**Alright, you got our knee busted,** you **can try and figure out how to walk with it. My work here is done.**

Chara gave one last menacing look down at Toby, but it was wasted, seeing as he had apparently passed out. And, judging by the smell, he had pissed himself too. Chara wrinkled her nose in disgust. 

**Barely lasted a second. I bet the Moldsmals could have beat them if they tried.**

Red eyes closed. 

Brown eyes opened. 

Frisk shook his head to clear it, stumbling a little as Chara gave him control back. She was right, it was hard enough to stand on this knee, it would be even harder to walk on it. Maybe if he found a stick or something they could use it as a crutch… 

Then he frowned. 

_I said, "Don't hurt anyone."_ He admonished. 

**And I said, "Whatever." See? I can remember pointless conversations too.**

_Chara…_

Chara's image stuck out her tongue at him. 

**He wasn't backing down. Anyway, it's not my fault he's so weak. If I'd exposed his soul, I prob'ly could have sneezed on it and it'd shatter.**

**Anyway, he'll be fine. Shouldn't you be worrying about the Moldsmals?**

Frisk had almost forgotten about them, and worry flashed in his face before he spun around to check on them. He knelt among them, whispering quiet words of comfort to them, reassuring the small blobs that everything was alright. 

They seemed grateful for his help, and after consoling them, they began to jiggle slowly away. Frisk let out a relieved sigh. It seemed he had gotten here in time; none of them had seemed too badly hurt. 

Unfortunately, now he was able to take stock and focus on his own wounds. He'd been hurt before, and badly, but usually it was because he had taken soul damage. He was less used to physical pain, and he'd taken quite a beating. The gash on his arm stung and there was a lot of blood seeping out of the wound. That would need to get patched up and quickly. But he wasn't going anywhere fast with his knee hurting as bad as it did. He tried putting weight on it, and barely bit back a cry of pain at the agony that seemed to spike through his body at the attempt. 

**Hey, twerp! You've been standing there for a while, and this isn't exactly comfortable over here. What're you thinking about?**

_Maybe I can call Mom? I don't want to interrupt her day, though…_

**Doesn't matter, you left the cell phone at home. Look, take off your shirt and wrap it around your arm.**

Frisk took Chara's advice, though somewhat reluctantly. He hoped that blood could be washed out. He really liked this shirt. Those thoughts took a background level as he carefully tied the shirt around his arm, making it a makeshift bandage. It should do until he could get it properly treated. 

Frisk began hobbling away, trying to get back out to the street where someone could find him. It seemed way further to get back out there than it had coming, and his knee was in agony. He could barely put any pressure on it, so it was very slow going. 

"Frisk!" 

The boy looked up, and up ahead he saw Toriel running towards him, Sans close behind. Relief flooded through the child and he sank to the ground, finally able to take the pressure off his injured knee. 

"My child! What happened to you?" Toriel cried, leaning down, and pulling off his makeshift bandage, letting out a little gasp as she saw the wound it hid. She immediately placed her hands on Frisk, allowing healing magic to flow through him. Frisk closed his eyes to enjoy the warm sensation flooding through his body, taking the pain away with it. Most Monsters had difficulty healing physical wounds, as it wasn't their specialty. But Toriel had had more experience with Humans than just about any other Monster, and within moments, the pain was gone, and his wounds were closed. 

Toriel wrapped him in a hug and stood up, letting Frisk wrap his arms around her neck. Sans stood in the background watching silently. 

It took a few minutes to convince his mother to let him go, but she finally lowered the boy to the ground, wiping away tears with the sleeve of her robe. 

"My child… What happened?" She asked again, crouching down so she could look the boy in the eye. 

Frisk shrugged, trying to blow it off like it was no big deal. 

"Some mean kids." 

Toriel's eyes narrowed. 

"Did you recognise any of them?" 

The boy shook his head, holding his hands out with palms facing upwards to signify he was fine. Toriel turned to Sans. 

"Sans, you brought me here. What did you see?" 

Frisk's heart skipped a beat. If Sans had seen Chara in control… He peered over to the skeleton who had his gaze trained on the boy. 

**Oh yeah. He knows.**

Sans shrugged in response to Toriel's questioning. 

"By the time I got here, they were already running off. Something musta spooked them. Kid was in pretty rough shape, so I came to get you. Healing magic was never my thing." 

"Thank you for getting me. Come on, Frisk, let's get you home." 

"Tori, wait." 

Toriel paused in the midst of picking Frisk up. She looked questioningly at Sans. 

"Look, you've still got that meeting to get to. I can have Frisk home and resting in just a few moments. I can handle things from here."

"How did you… No, it's not important. I need to take care of Frisk now." 

"Tori, listen. I know you're worried, but I'll make sure nothing bad happens to him. I made a promise, remember? And, uh, if you don't make your meeting, it could be another month of waiting." 

Frisk gave a questioning glance to Toriel, but she ignored it. She gave a deep sigh. 

"I suppose you are right. Frisk? Will you be alright with Sans, or would you like me to come with you?" 

Frisk did want Toriel to come with him, but if she had something she needed to do, he didn't want to get in her way. Besides, Sans probably wanted to talk to him alone, and he really shouldn't put that off. 

He patted his mother's hand and looked up at her. 

"I'll be fine, Mom." 

Toriel smiled at that, then embraced him one more time. 

"I'll be home as quickly as I can, small one. And I will make butterscotch and cinnamon pie for dinner, alright?" 

Frisk nodded eagerly into the embrace, squeezing even tighter as he did so. 

When the hug ended, Toriel stood straight and ruffled Frisk's hair. 

"Alright, I will see you soon. Take good care of him, Sans." 

"Will do, Tori." 

Sans walked up to Frisk, his hands in his hoodie, as Toriel left. He stared at him for a moment, before reaching out a hand to him. 

"We're gonna take a quick stop before we bring you home. We need to have a talk." 

The boy gulped, but took Sans's hand anyway. He blinked, and suddenly, they were at Grillby's. It was much the same as it had been in the Underground, but slightly larger to accommodate more people. It was right in the middle of the Monster district, so Humans generally only came here if a Monster friend brought them. Sans had brought them to a small table in the back, and he silently motioned for Frisk to sit down. The boy complied, albeit nervously. 

**I think he's mad. Do you think he's mad?**

_You're not helping, Chara. This is your fault._

**I'm sorry, would you rather had us get beaten to a pulp back there? If you had let-**

"So, I saw part of what happened back there." Sans said, unwittingly interrupting Chara as he sat down. He pulled a ketchup bottle from beneath his hoodie and took a swig. 

"Maybe you'd like to tell me what exactly happened?" 

His voice was level, but there was a dangerous edge to it. Frisk took a deep breath, trying to think of how best to explain it. 

"There were a bunch of bullies attacking some Moldsmals." He said quietly. "I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen to me." He rubbed his shoulder nervously. "Chara said she could make them stop. So I let her." 

Sans groaned, rubbing his skull in apparent frustration. 

"See, this is what I was afraid of. She's playing you, kid." Sans's emotions were beginning to get the better of him, and his left eye was beginning to glow. 

"I don't know how she managed to convince you, but this is exactly what she wants! Maybe she helped you here, but can't you see that she's only trying to gain your trust so she can turn on you later?" Sans's eyes went dark. 

" **S h e k i l l e d e v e r y o n e .** " 

"She's different now though!" Frisk argued. "She's better!" 

"Oh, buddy, you're way too nice. That kid is a manipulator, she's taking advantage of you! Why can't you see that?" 

Frisk shook his head and dropped his gaze. He couldn't bring himself to keep looking at Sans. He bit his lip, trying to think of a way to convince him of the truth. 

**He's still not listenin', huh?**

Frisk shook his head again. 

**Look, you've never managed to convince him. Maybe you should let me try.**

_What?_

**You're not good with words. I am. Or do you want him to never trust you again?**

_Last time you took control, you hurt someone._

**Riiight. Because this is totally the same situation. Besides, if I attacked someone, do you think he would just let me? I'm not interested in feeling those blasters of his again.**

Sans was just watching him, waiting for him to speak again. Frisk was grateful for the moment to think. Sans hated Chara, but maybe if they talked, he would see that she really was different? Maybe… maybe it was worth a try. 

_Alright. I'll do it._

**Finally.**

Brown eyes closed. 

Red eyes opened. 

"You know," Chara said sweetly, looking directly into Sans's sockets. "It's considered rude to talk about someone as if they weren't there." 

To his credit, Sans didn't suddenly attack or lash out at Chara's appearance. Instead, he casually drained the ketchup bottle before setting it down. The only sign he gave away of his anger was his left eye, which was now glowing violently. 

"Pretty sure that only applies to people." He shot back. "Where's Frisk?" 

Chara opened her mouth to reply, but her right arm suddenly did a very Frisk-like wave. The motion stunned the girl, and she stared at the arm for a moment before giving out a small angry shriek and stamping her foot on the ground. 

"Friiiisk!" She whined, not realizing she was speaking aloud. "You know I hate it when you do that! I don't take control of _your_ limbs when _you're_ in control!" 

Frisk's image raised an eyebrow at her. 

"That was one time! And he totally deserved it. You heard what he said about Mom." 

Sans watched the exchange silently, but he seemed at least slightly reassured, since the light in his eye died down a bit. It did not disappear entirely, however. 

"Alright, so Frisk's still in there. What do you want, then?" 

"Maybe I just want to have a conversation." 

"I don't have anything to say to you." 

Chara gave a deep sigh. 

"Honestly, I don't see what you're making such a big deal about. Even if I did turn, you'd just kill me again." 

"You don't see what the big deal is?" Sans was trembling with rage. "The big deal, is that my friend is carrying you around with him. **Y o u d i r t y b r o t h e r k i l l e r.** " 

_Chara…_

"It's been five months since we left the Underground!" Chara shot back, ignoring Frisk. "Do you really need to be constantly keeping an eye out for me? Don't think we haven't noticed you watching." 

Sans said nothing, so Chara continued. 

"Look, I don't care if you don't like me. I don't really care for you either. Just stop harassing the twerp, alright?" 

"Why, so you can take control when I'm least expecting it?" Sans retorted, fist clutching the empty ketchup bottle he held. 

Chara narrowed her gaze at him. 

_Chara, what are you doing?_

"Ugh! You're such an idiot! Don't you get it? Frisk doesn't just see you as a friend! You're a hero to him!" 

Sans was so shocked that even the blue flame in his left eye went out. 

"It was because of _you_ that he was able to get control of the timeline again! You wore me down till he could wrest control away from me and keep it there. And whenever I had even the slightest chance of taking it back, he wasn't scared of me anymore. 

"Because he knew that you would stop me." 

Chara's red pupils kept locked tight on the small white dots in the middle of the skeleton's eyesockets, putting _just_ enough power into her gaze that he wouldn't look away. 

"And I knew it too. No matter what I did, I couldn't get past you. That's what started this whole co-operation thing. But that's not important. What _is_ important, is that the kid idolizes you. Now use that brain of yours and think. You're constantly harassing him about his decisions, always watching for him to turn, never _trusting_ him. How do you think that makes him feel? Maybe you should think about being a role-model worthy of the twerp." 

Chara leaned back, pleased with her work. Sans was shaking slightly in front of her, sweat beading on his skull. Not only that, but her mental image of Frisk showed him huddled in a corner with his head in his hands. There. Maybe now he'd stop whining at her for hitting that jerk from before. 

"Good to see I've given you some food for thought. If you need me again, you know where to find me." 

Red eyes closed. 

Brown eyes opened. 

Immediately after regaining control, Frisk buried his head in his hands, unable to look at the skeleton. He shrank back in his chair, wishing he could disappear. 

There was a clattering sound as Sans wiped the sweat from his skull. When he spoke, his voice wavered slightly. 

"Kid… what she said… was that true?" 

**Don't back out now, Frisk.** Chara warned as Frisk hesitated. Finally, he let out a small gulp and gave a tiny nod. There was a sigh from the skeleton and Frisk hesitantly peeked out from behind his hand to see Sans's sockets closed, and his hand rubbing the front of his skull. When he opened his eyes, he gave the boy a tired smile and stood up. 

"Guess I've really been screwing this up, huh?" He said, and Frisk got the impression he was mostly talking to himself. "And it took Chara of all people to point it out. I'm never gonna live this down." He reached out and pulled Frisk into an embrace, which the child cautiously returned after a moment. 

"Sorry about that, kid. You should really be using Papyrus as a role-model instead of me. He's way better at it." 

Frisk's only reply was to tighten the hug. Sans chuckled lightly at his chosen response. 

"Heh. Alright, then. Listen kid, I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm not gonna be friends with your little tag-along. But I'm gonna trust that you've got everything under control, alright?" 

Frisk smiled up at the skeleton, who ruffled his hair. 

"Just remember, if you do go on a murderous rampage, I get to say "I told you so." 


	4. Chara's Scared

Frisk stood on a stool in the kitchen so he could reach the counter, determinedly spooning peanut butter onto bread. He'd made four sandwiches so far, he'd need at least another two, plus whatever else he could scrounge up. He was grateful it was summertime; it meant that even though it was very early in the morning there was enough light to see by, and he didn't have to risk waking Toriel up.

Chara's presence did the spiritual equivalent of rolling over and mumbling in her sleep before sinking back down into his subconscious. It made the boy giggle. They'd both had a very long day yesterday. It was a good thing they'd gone to bed early, otherwise he might not have been able to get up before Toriel.

"My child? You are up very early, are you alright?"

Frisk started at the sudden sound behind him, barely keeping his balance on the stool. He turned around to see his mother just entering the kitchen, letting out a huge yawn as she did so. She was wearing a purple bathrobe, and from where it hung open slightly, Frisk could see a pink shirt with the words "Got goat?" on it.

He'd hoped to be gone before she woke up. Oh well. Hopefully, he hadn't been the one to wake her up.

The boy gave Toriel a little wave and a smile before returning to his work. His mother walked up behind him, settling a hand his shoulder.

"What are you… Oh."

Toriel stiffened behind him, then gave a small sigh.

"Has it been that long already?"

Frisk gave a little nod, slapping the two pieces of sufficiently peanut buttered bread together and reaching for more.

"I wish you would let someone come with you, Frisk. I worry about you when you leave like this."

"I'll be alright, Mom." Frisk said quietly. It always helped calm Toriel down when he called her that. He knew that she didn't like his monthly excursions into the Underground, especially since it took nearly three days just to get from the exit to his destination. But they'd been through this before, and though Frisk was usually willing to relent to his mother's desires, this was the one thing that he refused to budge on. Eventually, Toriel had just stopped trying to stop him.

Besides, he'd made it through the Underground in one piece with everything trying to kill him, hadn't he? Sure, it had taken a few tries, but by now he knew the place like the back of his hand. Anyway, only one thing lived there now, and that was who Frisk was going to visit.

Toriel walked away from him and he could hear her rummaging around somewhere behind him. At last, he finished making his sandwiches, and carefully wrapped them up and placed them in the backpack on the floor beside him. It was mostly full of food, but there were also some other basics in there, a small blanket, soap and the like. It wasn't much, but it was more than he'd had when he first fell down into the Underground.

He didn't even notice Toriel beside him until she handed him a plastic container with two generous slices of pie from the night before.

"Here. You said your friend liked this, so there's one for each of you. Tell him hello from me, won't you?"

Frisk nodded eagerly and wrapped his arms around the furry Boss Monster. She quickly hugged him back. When it ended, he put the container into his backpack and pulled the zipper closed. It was a little difficult to close given how much was in there, but he managed it anyway.

"Be safe, alright? And be home quickly."

Frisk nodded and threw off a little salute, earning him a chuckle from his mother, before he shouldered his backpack and made for the door. He pulled on his shoes and gave one last wave to Toriel, who was looking at him with a similar expression as when he had left the Ruins, insisting that he needed to continue on.

He wished he could ask her to come with him, but Flowey had made it clear that he didn't want any other visitors, especially anyone from his family. And Frisk had promised not to tell anyone that he was Asriel. So he just gave Toriel a sad smile and walked out the door, leaving her alone in the house.

Toriel sighed and rubbed the space between her horns for a moment as her little boy left. Then she went into the next room to make a phone call.

 

Frisk managed to make it to the entrance to the Underground before noon. He theoretically could have taken the bus out here, or had someone give him a ride but… it just felt like cheating. It had been scary in the Underground, especially as he was attacked both from outside and in, but there was a part of him that missed his adventure down there.

He stood at the large cave entrance, his back to the cliff where all the monsters had stood, gazing on the surface world. This was the only way to get into the Underground now; the hole that he had fallen in at the beginning of his journey had been closed off so that no-one would fall in like he had done. Besides, he still wasn't sure how he had survived that fall in the first place, and he didn't really want to test it now.

Anyway, this way he got to go through the Underground and remember his whole journey again. With that in mind, he took a deep breath and entered the cave.

He didn't stick around in New Home; he had a long journey ahead of him after all, and besides, Chara always got a little antsy whenever they stayed around her old house for too long. Frisk hoped to get to Alphys's lab before nighttime… not that anything but the time on his old watch would indicate night or day down here.

Since everyone had left, most of the Core's power had been shut down. It was still active, but only on its most basic levels. Alphys and her team occasionally came down to check on the technology, but for the most part it was left alone. What that meant, of course, was no elevators from New Home to Hotland, or to connect the varying levels of Hotland itself.

Of course, elevators weren't the only way to get around, but they had certainly been the most convenient. Frisk had to walk through the silent streets of the empty city in order to proceed. It wasn't as scary as it should have been, though, to be fair, he had gotten through many situations far more terrifying than a simple empty street.

Frisk actually found it quite peaceful. It was away from the bustle of the city he now lived in, and it was nice to just spend some time alone. Or at least, as alone as he ever was.

Chara was fairly quiet. She rarely spoke up much during these trips. Frisk didn't think she disliked them. He knew she liked seeing Asriel, but he thought that she regretted a lot of things down here. Not that she'd ever tell him if she did.

Frisk stopped for a break and a rest in one of the plazas near the edge of the city, drinking the last of his water and refilling his bottle at the water fountain there. It was still going, albeit only just. It probably wouldn't be if it wasn't operating on magic instead of tech.

After his short rest stop, he quickly found himself in Hotland. He had to be careful here. There was a reason that this was the only part of the Underground that had been set up with elevators. There were several levels to Hotland, and the only ways to get around them were precarious to say the least. Any slip and fall would almost definitely end in lava. But Frisk was nimble, and in his last few trips down here, he'd managed to find the easiest ways across. It was still touch and go a few times, but after a few hours of jumping, climbing and walking, he found himself on the bottom level. At last.

He spent the night in Alphys' lab, and continued on his journey in the morning, after eating another sandwich. He'd have to be a little careful, but he was pretty sure he'd packed enough food this time. If he didn't, he could always scavenge. There was usually some fruit or plant growing somewhere that would keep him going till he got home. As much as he loved his mother's snail pie, he had quickly learned that that was the only way he liked snails.

Travelling through Waterfall was a far less perilous journey. There were still a few hurdles, but there was far less risk involved. However, a few times, he got the feeling he was being watched. There was never anything when he looked, and Chara didn't seem to notice anything, so he dismissed it as just nerves.

He made good time, and managed to reach Snowdin before the day was out. He elected to use Grillby's to spend the night. The magic of an elemental monster did not easily fade, and it was still the warmest place in Snowdin after all this time.

The next morning he set out again. It was far less difficult to get through the snowy forest to the Ruins, and he had the good memories of all the silly puzzles that Papyrus had put him through to keep him in a good mood. He should be able to reach Flowey's usual spot by evening. Maybe he'd be home a little early this time! He kind of missed Toriel already.

He'd learned the hard way that if he brought his cell phone along, he'd be absolutely bombarded nearly constantly with phone calls and messages. And especially in Hotland, any break in his concentration could be disastrous. So he'd "forgotten" the phone at home this time. He was sure Toriel was worried, but there wasn't much he could do about that. This was something he needed to do.

As expected, he reached Home just after noon. He smiled, running his hands along the walls and letting himself be lost in memory for a moment. He had spent several days here with Toriel before setting out into the rest of the Underground. He hadn't really intended to leave. It had been a combination of Chara's subconscious urging and his own discoveries that had pushed him to go. He had read every book Toriel had, and he wanted to help the Monsters go free. He hadn't been sure how he could do that, but he was Determined to try.

He only spent a few more minutes there, before coming back to himself and leaving the small house. He would come back and spend the night here before starting the trek home tomorrow.

 

At last Frisk passed the entrance to the Ruins. Only a few rooms away was where he had first fallen down. Where Flowey always was, sitting in the only light that shone into the Underground.

The boy couldn't help the pang of guilt that stabbed through him as he approached. He hadn't managed to save everyone. He so wished he had. Maybe this time… he would convince Flowey to come up to the surface? He could only hope.

**Something's wrong.**

Frisk paused mid-step at Chara's voice. He could see the archway that led to the room he had fallen into now.

_What is it?_

**I… I don't know.**

Frisk tentatively began moving again, checking around to make sure he was still alone. He could feel Chara's presence rising up, boiling just underneath the surface. She seemed ready to grab control at the first sign of danger. Frisk hoped he wouldn't have to fight her for control. She could get… erratic sometimes.

Upon reaching the doorway, he cautiously poked his head through it. And gasped at the sight before him.

The flowers.

The beautiful golden flowers that he had woken on. That Asriel had said he needed to take care of. That he had later learned… marked Chara's grave.

They were all black. Shrivelled. Dead. Twisted in on themselves in a cruel mockery of life. And Flowey was nowhere to be seen.

"Flowey?"

There was no reply.

Frisk walked towards the dead flowers, calling out the name of the former prince again. There was still nothing.

Frisk was drawn towards the flowerbed. He wasn't sure why, but as soon as he reached them he had the urge to stretch out his hand and touch them.

The moment his fingers brushed a dead petal there was a scream of pain from Chara, causing Frisk to jump back in fright. Chara's image had sunk to her knees, clutching desperately at her head.

_Chara?_

**No no no no no no!**

_Chara? What's wrong?_

The girl didn't appear to hear him, but there were tears streaming down her image's face now.

**Leave him alone! Run! Asriel, run you idiot!**

Frisk had no idea what was going on. He looked around wildly, but there was still nothing, and no sound other than Chara's cries. He felt his Determination hardening inside him. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes so he could concentrate.

He reached out to Chara mentally, pressing lightly at the boundaries that kept his soul and hers separate, instead of merging together into one entity. He was surprised at how weak the borders were. Whatever was happening to Chara, it was taking all of her willpower and focus. He steeled himself, then pushed forward.

Suddenly he found himself… in this same room again. Only things were different. The flowers were golden, not blackened, and there was a man standing in front of him, his back facing the boy.

He was wearing black robes, and there was a leather band wrapped around the back of his bald head. It appeared to be holding some kind of mask in place over his face. He couldn't see what the mask was of other than it's golden colour. Something about the man immediately made Frisk sick to his stomach. He felt… wrong.

The man made a gesture and a tendril of dark energy whipped out, plucking one of the flowers from the ground. Frisk let out a gasp. It was Flowey! The flower struggled in the grip of the magic, summoning a hail of bullets that fired at the figure, but they didn't seem to have any effect on him.

"I can still see it, clinging to your very being. The power to remake the world. **My power.** You housed a part of me once, didn't you?"

The man's voice was cold and filled with malice. It sent shivers down Frisk's spine, and he saw Flowey stop struggling and go limp, a horrified expression on his face.

The man began to speak again, and it was almost as if his very words were weapons. Frisk could hardly understand what he was saying, as each word seemed to smash into his soul, sending the boy to his knees. He covered his ears in an attempt to dull the noise, but was unable to look away from the scene unfolding before him.

Then the man made a motion with his hand. and a burst of power exploded from him. Flowey's shriek was cut off as he was vaporized in an instant. The release of power was enough to cause all the flowers to wither and die instantly.

Frisk came back into consciousness slowly. He found he had fallen to his knees, just like he had in the… vision? Flashback? Whatever it was he'd just experienced. He stood up slowly, then began to back away from the flowers.

With the borders between their souls so frayed, Frisk could easily feel Chara's emotions pulsing from across their internal barrier. There was anger, sorrow, and.. another emotion. One that he had never before felt from her.

Fear.

As he took another step backwards, he let out a sharp gasp as his back pressed against something soft, and a hand fell on his shoulder. Chara immediately surged into control, and Frisk did not even try to stop her.

The girl leapt away as far as her legs would take her. She crouched down and twisted around so that she was facing the figure behind her.

"You!" She hissed. "I'll KILL y-"

She stopped mid-sentence as she actually focused on the figure before her, suddenly realizing that it was Sans. Confused, she slipped back down and let Frisk retake control. The skeleton hadn't made a move, and the boy ran to him, throwing his arms around him and sobbing into his signature blue hoodie.

Sans seemed confused for a moment, but he slowly reached his arms around the sobbing child and returned the hug.

"Hey, kid, what's going on? You're kind of freaking me out."

Frisk didn't respond, just crying harder into the skeleton and tightening his grip on him. Sans didn't ask any more questions, but he knelt down so he could keep a better grip on the boy, which Frisk appreciated.

After a few minutes, Frisk had cried himself into exhaustion. He slumped against Sans, his face wet from tears.

"You feeling better now?" Sans asked gently.

Frisk shook his head. He really wasn't. He couldn't believe that Flowey was…

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The boy cleared his throat.

"Something bad happened here."

"What was it?"

Frisk shook his head. Then he whispered,

"Chara's scared."

Sans stiffened immediately at those words, and Chara didn't even protest Frisk's declaration. That alone scared Frisk almost more than anything else that had happened so far.

"Come on kid, I'll get you home."

 

A few seconds later, and they were right outside Toriel's home. Frisk wanted to dash inside and cling to his mother for dear life, but the thought of letting go of Sans terrified him. He only clung to him harder at the thought.

Sans seemed to understand, and wordlessly brought Frisk inside, allowing the boy to maintain his death-grip on him. Stepping inside the house, they could hear the TV playing, signalling that Toriel was home.

"-Shadowy creatures have been attacking cities around the region of Mt. Ebott. Humans and Monsters alike have lost several people over the course of a day or two. Could this be the truth of Monsters revealed? Are we now seeing a savage side that will-"

"Ngaaaaah!"

Frisk and Sans paused at the yell, and then there was a loud crashing noise. The sound of the reporter's voice was suddenly cut off.

The two shared a look, then bolted into the living room to see Undyne standing up, huffing in fury as as the magical glow of a spear dissipated from the smashed remains of the television. Toriel was rising, a frown on her face, probably about to lecture the impulsive fish-woman, but she was stopped short at the sight of her son.

Undyne did not seem to have noticed them yet.

"Damn him! I _hate_ it when they twist things around like that! True side of Monsters revealed my a-"

She finally turned away from the shattered remains of the TV and stopped short as she noticed the two.

Frisk let out a loud cry and ran into his mother's embrace, a fresh set of tears pouring unbidden from his eyes. Toriel lifted him up so he could sob into her shoulder.

"Frisk? Are you alright? You are not hurt, are you?"

The boy shook his head, but clutched even harder at Toriel's robe. He felt his mother turn beneath him, then sit down carefully so as not to disturb him.

"Sans? What happened down there?"

Before he could answer, Undyne's phone began playing her favorite theme song. Frisk could imagine the glare Toriel sent her way, and he heard the quick-moving footsteps as the warrior retreated from the room to answer the phone.

"I'm not sure. Everything was going fine until today, but when he got to the room he usually goes to, you know… where he fell down? He started freaking out, so I brought him back here."

Toriel began rubbing Frisk's back, soothing him slightly with her gentle ministrations.

"Thank you for watching over him, Sans." She said quietly.

"You know it's no problem, Tori. Anyway, I'm gonna head back down there. Maybe I can figure out what's got him so spooked."

"I appreciate that. Thank you."

By this point, Frisk didn't think he had any tears left to cry. His body still shook, but his eyes were dry. Toriel pulled him away from her shoulder and sat him in her lap, though she never let her arms leave him, just pulling him closer and allowing the boy to snuggle into her.

Undyne walked back into the room, a regretful look on her face.

"I didn't scare you, did I, punk?"

Frisk shook his head and Undyne seemed to relax slightly in relief.

"Good. Sorry about that. Anyway, I got called by the station, I'm gonna have to head out there. Something weird's going on, and those lazy chumps out there won't get anything done without me pushing 'em."

"You do tend to inspire people." Toriel said quietly. "I appreciate you keeping me company." Her voice turned wry. "Even if you did wreck the TV."

Undyne rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.

"Yeah, sorry. I'll uh, get you a new one."

Undyne cast one more awkward look at the two, then she turned and left the room. The sound of her footsteps was quickly followed by the slamming of a door, then silence.

Toriel gently began rubbing her hand through the boy's hair, humming a soothing tune as she did so.

"I will always be here for you, small one." She whispered to Frisk. "Everything will be alright. Whatever troubles you, I will always be here to protect you, no matter what. Rest, my child. We can speak more about this tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toby Fox owns Undertale and all associated characters. However, The Defiler is mine.


	5. We will be one again

_Frisk floated aimlessly about the grey, lifeless world around him. He didn't seem to have a body, or any control over where he floated. Still, there was something calming about the whole scene, and he was more than content to continue this way forever if he needed to._

_After an indeterminable amount of time, he looked down on the word below him, and saw Chara, appearing as she did in his mental image of her, wearing a green shirt with a pale yellow stripe through the middle and dull brown pants. She was the only thing he'd seen so far that had colour._

_He was happy when he floated after her, following her though this dreamscape. He'd had dreams like these before. They were rare, but as far as he could tell, they were a side-effect of two souls sharing one body. He was seeing Chara's dream._

_Ghostly figures began to appear in the land around them. There were four of them, standing together in the mist. Their figures were blurred and colorless like everything else, but Frisk was fairly certain the two tall ones were Asgore and Toriel, which probably meant that the two small ones were Asriel and… Chara?_

_The coloured Chara seemed happy to see them and ran towards them, but just before she could reach them, they faded away, only to re-appear a short distance away. They seemed to be having fun, playing and talking together, though Frisk couldn't understand anything they said. Chara kept desperately chasing after them, calling out their names as she did so. But every time it was the same. They did not seem aware of Chara's presence and they always faded before she could reach them._

_This went on for quite some time, and Frisk tried to go down to comfort her, but he was still unable to move of his own volition. He could only watch, helpless, as Chara got more and more desperate below him. At last, the family faded away and did not return, leaving Chara alone._

_She fell to her knees, and Frisk could faintly hear the sound of crying from her. He tried again to go down to her, but he was forced to continue circling above. It reminded him of those times that Chara had been in control back in the Underground. He had been a prisoner in his own body, forced to watch as his friends were felled around him._

_Suddenly, Chara clutched at her head and began to scream; a high-pitched wail of pure agony. Frisk watched in horror as she began to transform, her body morphing and growing until there was nothing left of her. Instead, a colossal being stood in her place, blacker than the void and the size of a mountain. It raised it's head and gave a howling laugh that shook the world around him._

_The creature made a gesture and the world transformed. It became a place of light and colour. Frisk was raised to the heavens to see the world spread out like a jewel before him. He saw civilizations and fantastic creatures working and living together. He saw a world of magic and wonder, of hope and happiness._

_Then he was pulled back down. And he saw more of the massive creatures, each with a different form and each more terrifying and bizarre than the last. They were walking through the world, smashing and destroying everything in their path. At their head was the being that Chara had become, and it was laughing. The armies of the world made war against the creatures. Frisk saw dragons and deific beings challenging the creatures. But they amounted to little more than an annoyance to be swatted away like insects._

_As the darkness threatened to take over the whole world, the dream shifted. Frisk was now hovering above Waterfall, and he could see Chara below him, hiding in the same tall grass that had shielded him from Undyne's eye back in the Underground. She was trembling, her arms wrapped around herself as she glanced furtively around._

_At a quiet sloshing sound, she ducked her head lower, and Frisk turned his gaze towards the sound._

_It was the man from before. The one he had seen kill Flowey. He walked casually through the shallow water, his staff tapping silently against the ground as he did so._

_"Chara." He called softly. Even though his voice was low, his call carried through the area, until all of the echo flowers were repeating him._

_"I know you're there, Chara."_

_The girl in question shrank lower, covering her head with her arms._

_"It will be so much easier if you just co-operate." The man's words were practically dripping with malice. And the echo flowers continuously repeating what he said seemed to be getting louder._

_"You cannot escape me. You are a part of me. I will find you, and when I do…"_

_The dark laugh the man emitted was instantly taken up by the flowers and it got louder and louder until Frisk had to cover his ears against the wall of noise._

_"We will be one again."_

 

Chara's scream woke Frisk up. He sat bolt upright in his bed, absolutely covered in sweat. Chara's image was in a similar situation, and she seemed to be panting heavily. Frisk could feel her grasping for control, but he gently pushed her down.

_It was just a nightmare, Chara._ He said soothingly, trying to calm down the girl. _Everything's alright now._

Chara put her head in her hands.

**You.. you saw?**

Frisk nodded.

**I… I…**

_You don't need to talk about it._ Frisk soothed. Chara was always vulnerable after a nightmare. _Just go back to sleep, alright?_

**Idiot.** But her voice held no real malice in it. It was more of a token gesture than anything else.

Frisk lay back down and closed his eyes. He felt Chara settle back down, but he wondered if she would actually go back to sleep. He vaguely hoped that she'd be alright before he drifted off.

 

Morning came, and Frisk went down to have breakfast with his mother. It quickly became apparent that Chara had barely slept during the night, and as her concentration waxed and waned, Frisk was once again subjected to her emotions, none of which were positive.

With his divided mind in turmoil, he was incredibly distracted; Toriel had to ask him three times to pass her butter for the waffles she had made that morning before he actually heard her. After breakfast, she sat him on her lap in one of the reading chairs in the living room, and asked him to tell her what was bothering him.

But he couldn't do it. Frisk began to feel the weight of all the secrets he was keeping, the promises he had to keep. He couldn't tell her about Chara or Asriel, and he was to frightened to tell her about the man from Chara's dream, the man who had destroyed Flowey without a second thought. His only response to her questioning was to cling tighter to her.

Fortunately Toriel seemed to understand. She held him for a while, before reaching over to the small table holding her favourite books just within arms reach of the chair. She selected one, then began to read aloud. Frisk let her soothing voice wash over him.

She was reading another book on snails, but that was alright. Frisk wasn't listening so much to the words, he just listened to her voice. Warm, strong and full of love.

It was a balance he needed with everything going on in his mind. He was scared. He was more scared than he could remember being. The simple reason for this was that Chara was frightened.

He had never felt fear from her before. Even when she had fought Sans and seen the skeletal monster's enormous power she had never been afraid of him. She'd been angry, frustrated, and, when she realized she couldn't beat him, bitter.

Even the nightmares that plagued her once in a blue moon had never evoked fear from her. Or at least, not she'd let him know about. Sorrow and anger, yes, usually in the vulnerable moment just after she woke up before she could collect herself. If she had been afraid, she'd never let him know it.

But now…

He let out a shudder, and snuggled deeper into his mother, who gave him a reassuring squeeze, never halting her reading to the boy. He closed his eyes, not wanting to think anymore.

He awoke to find himself wrapped in a blanket, his face gently pressing against the back of the armchair. He stretched and yawned, then pulled off the blanket and got down from the large chair to go in search of his mother.

From the smells coming from the kitchen, it seemed that she was cooking there. Frisk rubbed his eyes blearily and checked the clock as soon he entered the kitchen.

Five o' clock? He'd slept practically the entire day away!

Toriel pulled a chicken out of the oven and tested it. Satisfied, she looked over to where Frisk was still staring numbly at the clock.

"Oh! Frisk! I did not hear you get up, my child. How are you feeling?"

The sudden rumbling of the child's stomach quickly answered her question, and Frisk smiled sheepishly.

"Hee hee. Well, fortunately for you, dinner is nearly prepared." She leaned down and booped the boy's nose, eliciting a surprised giggle from him. "Falling asleep after breakfast and getting up in time for dinner. You're certainly grabbing life by the horns, aren't you, young man?"

Frisk took her joke as a challenge and wrapped his small hands around her horns, while giving the woman a bright smile. Toriel shook her head, pulling the child back and forth with her head motions. Her antics finally tore a laugh from Frisk's throat and he had to admit he felt a little better for doing so. His mother smiled widely at her success, then gently removed his hands from her horns and shooed him into the dining room.

"Go and sit down, small one. I will be there with the food shortly."

 

Frisk quietly ate his dinner across the table from Toriel. He pretended not to notice the worried looks his mom kept shooting him when she thought he wasn't looking. He couldn't shake the feeling that something very bad was about to happen, and the fact that Chara had apparently retreated into his subconscious did nothing to ease his nerves.

His mind kept wandering back to the man in Chara's nightmares. He was the same man from Chara's flashback in the ruins. He must be connected to Chara somehow, but what did he want? And why did he-

He felt Chara suddenly snap forward, pulling out of his subconscious and back into the forefront of his mind.

_Chara? Are you-_

**Something's coming.**

"Frisk, child?" Toriel asked worriedly, getting up from her place and walking towards Frisk. "What's wrong? You look very pale, and-"

A sudden sick feeling washed over Frisk, and he fell out of his chair at the force of it, letting out a quiet "oof" as he hit the floor. The feeling slowly drained away as he stood up, but it was quickly replaced by horror as the scene before him unfolded.

Several… **things** were attacking Toriel! They were shadowy figures and their bodies didn't seem to have a constant shape. They kept changing, bodies morphing themselves around Toriel's defenses and out of the way of her retaliations. Toriel was desperately defending herself with her magic, and the creatures had only managed to get a few hits on her, but she was quickly being overwhelmed by them.

**They're hurting her! Give me control!**

_Wait, we can stop this without hurting anyone!_ Frisk fought back, using his Determination to keep Chara from taking over.

"Why are you doing this?" Toriel cried out, narrowly avoiding an attack by another of the shadowy beings. "There is no reason for us to fight! Why- Urgh!"

One of the creatures morphed its arm into a spear, extending it so that it pierced Toriel's side. She backed up, but she was quickly pressed against the wall. The creatures showed no sign of letting up, nor did they make any reply to Toriel's words.

Frisk leapt forward and tried to pull one of the shadowy beings away from his mother, but he phased right through it and ended up crashing to the floor. His concentration was fraying as Chara renewed her assault on his mind.

**Give me control, dammit!** She screeched. **They're going to kill her!**

In desperation, Frisk reached for his Save file. He couldn't remember the last time he'd managed to Save, but whenever it was, it was worth going back to if all this could be avoided. As he tried to grasp hold of the familiar energy, however, there was a sharp pain that suddenly spiked in his skull, and he let out a cry, lowering his defenses as he clutched his head.

It was all Chara needed to take control. Her eyes almost seemed to glow as she took over, pulling herself into a standing position. She could barely see Toriel under the mass of black that now engulfed her. Damn Frisk! He should have let her take control from the start!

But there wasn't time to dwell on that. She quickly ran to the table, grabbing the knife Frisk had been using to cut the chicken. It wasn't incredibly sharp, but it'd have to do. She rushed back into the fray, letting out an angry shriek as she began to slice at the apparitions.

"Leave." Slash. " My." Stab. "Mother." Swipe. "Alone!"

She could feel an unfamiliar energy building in her gut and slowly rising. With each swing of her weapon, one of the creatures dissolved into nothingness. They didn't turn to dust like a normal Monster, but these weren't Monsters, were they? They were… something else.

There was a burst of magic, and Chara had to hurl herself to the side to avoid the fiery blast that, it quickly became apparent, originated from Toriel. It caused the rest of the creatures to dissolve, leaving only Toriel breathing heavily before Chara. She had suffered several cuts, but she didn't seem too badly injured. Just to be sure, Chara focused her power and viewed Toriel's life-force. She winced at the discovery. Shallow though they might be, those wounds had done a lot of damage. She would need healing, and soon.

"Are you alright, my child?" Toriel asked, ignoring her own wounds and stepping towards Chara. But she stopped as she noticed Chara's red pupils and registered the knife in the child's hand.

"Frisk? Are you…"

Chara whipped around, her eyes scanning the room. She thought she had felt…

Yes, there it was! There were more of those things coming, and they were coming quickly. She could feel their presence. It all seemed so familiar…

"There's no time, Mom, we have to go!" Chara grabbed her mother's hand and started pulling her towards the door, surprising Toriel with her strength.

They had to get out of here. If those things focused on Toriel again, she wouldn't last for very long. They needed to get her somewhere safe, so she could rest and heal.

Suddenly, several of the dark presences were extinguished all at once. Chara stopped short, though she didn't let go of her mother's hand. She was asking her something, but she couldn't concentrate on that now.

Several more of them began to wink out of existence, and Chara furrowed her brow. None of them seemed to be able to make it to the house anymore. By the time any of them got close, their presences disappeared.

Was it a trick? Did they know she could sense them and were hiding their auras from her? She re-focused. There was no time for any of that! She had to-

"Ngaaah!"

The door burst open and Undyne bolted into the room. She was wearing her full suit of armour, even the intimidating helmet with its jagged teeth. She held a spear in her right hand, and there were two Human police officers right behind her. As soon as she saw them, the fish-woman ran towards them.

"Are you two alright? Are you hurt?"

"Mom's hurt pretty badly. She needs help."

Undyne glanced down at Chara, presumably out of surprise at her voice. But if she noticed anything odd about her eyes or demeanor, she didn't say anything.

"Rob, Grant. Grab Officer 02, I think he's been practicing healing magic. Then I want a perimeter set up around this house. I don't want to see a single one of those things anywhere near this place, got that?"

"Yes, sir!" The two officers made a quick dash outside at Undyne's orders.

As Undyne began removing her helmet, Chara helped Toriel into one of the chairs at the table, then went to stand next to the door, eyes darting around the yard, searching for more of those creatures. Frisk seemed really quiet, she could barely feel his presence. But she could worry about that later.

"Geez, Tori, they really roughed you up." Undyne grimaced, looking closer at Toriel's wounds.

"I am alright, Undyne." Toriel reassured her, though she was unable to hide the pain in her voice. "Frisk?" She called out. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, mom." Chara replied, not turning around. "They all came after you." She could see the armoured Dragon-Monster hurrying his way towards the house.

There were heavy footfalls from behind and Chara felt an armoured hand rest lightly on her shoulder.

"Hey punk, we've got this under control now. You're not gonna need that knife anymore."

Chara looked down in surprise. She'd actually forgotten she still held the weapon in her hand. Still, she hesitated. At least, until she saw Sans appear at the edge of the garden, and she swore she could see the images of a couple of Gaster Blasters fading away behind him. She sighed and placed the knife in the blue-scaled fish warrior's hand.

"See, Tori?" Undyne called, "Frisk was just taking up arms to protect you till I got here! Heh, I guess there is a little fighter in the punk after all!"

Chara couldn't help a smirk at Undyne's enthusiasm. She stepped to the side as 02 finally reached the door, panting slightly. He gave her a little nod, then ran past her into the house. Sans was also approaching, but at a walk, which didn't surprise her at all.

**Frisk? You alright?**

_Ow._

**You tried to load a Save, didn't you?**

_Y-yeah._

**We're going to have a talk about that later. For now, though, you should take back control. Sans'll be more happy to see you than me.**

Red eyes closed.

Brown eyes opened.

Frisk wobbled for a moment before steadying himself. He felt drained, and tired. He really didn't want to have the conversation he knew was coming. He turned back inside and was relieved to see some of Toriel's wounds closing under 02's ministrations. Undyne had retreated to the living room, and Frisk could hear her talking loudly, probably communicating with her forces.

Toriel made eye contact with him, and he steeled himself before walking over to her. He had no clue how to explain what had happened.

_Any ideas?_ He asked Chara.

**Mom got attacked, you tried to help. It happens.**

_...Thanks._

"Frisk?" Toriel asked cautiously as the boy approached. When Frisk raised his head, she furrowed her brow upon meeting his gaze. Before she could speak again,however, Undyne came in, a triumphant smirk on the warrior's face.

"Well, it looks like whatever those things were, they're gone now. My boys are just mopping up the last of them. Hah! Shoulda known better than to attack _my_ city!"

"Do you have any idea what they were?" Toriel asked.

"Yeah, been wondering that myself."

Sans had come into the house and was leaning on the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room. His ever-present grin seemed strained.

"Sans? What are you doing here?" Undyne asked, surprise evident in her voice.

"I was in the neighborhood. Bumped into a few of those things on the way. I tried to make conversation, but they really didn't seem to _give a carp_."

"Ugh." Undyne rolled her eyes. "02, head back to the station, and call everyone in. And I mean everyone."

"Yes, miss Undyne!"

Undyne returned her attention to Sans and Toriel.

"I don't know what they are, but I don't think they're Monsters. They're definitely magical though. I've never seen anything like them before."

Frisk took a deep breath.

"I think I might know what they are."


	6. You have no idea, do you?

The three Monsters trained confused looks on Frisk, but the biggest reaction came from within.

**You what?!**

_Well, really it's you. But I'm not allowed to talk about you, am I?_

**What makes you think I know anything about these things?**

_Do you not?_

There was a moment of silence from Chara. Frisk used that moment to sit down at the table across from Toriel. Undyne was tapping her foot impatiently, but she hadn't spoken out and the other two seemed content to give him time to speak.

**Fine. I might know something.**

_Then tell them._

**Seriously? You're putting me in the spotlight here?**

_If you know something, then tell them!_ Frisk's sudden frustration bled into his voice.

Chara seemed taken aback at his tone, then she scowled.

**Alright then, but on one condition. I don't know much about what's going on, but it's serious. So I want you to promise me. Promise me that when I tell you to give me control, you won't fight me for it. No more getting beaten half to death or letting** our mother **get swarmed before I can deal with the problem. Deal?**

_… Deal._

**Okay then.**

Frisk closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

Chara did not open her eyes, it would be easier that way. She couldn't do anything about her voice, but that was easier to explain away than the eyes. She took a moment to grasp at the fragments of memory that awakened when she had seen the dark beings. There wasn't much, but it was better than what they had.

She could hear Undyne take a deep breath, no doubt upset about how long she was taking. Chara didn't let her speak, however.

"You were right, Undyne." She said quietly. "They're not Monsters. They're not even alive, not really."

"Well, what are they then?" Undyne asked impatiently. Chara hesitated.

"They're… magic. I'm not sure how to describe it. Monsters are mostly made of magic, but they also have physical matter, right? These things don't. They don't have a soul either, they're just made of pure magic." She grimaced. "Well, maybe pure is the wrong word."

Undyne started muttering to herself, and Toriel spoke up. She definitely sounded on edge, and Chara felt a pang of guilt for making her worry.

"How do you know this? Have you met these creatures before?"

"Sorry, Mom, but you're just going to have to trust me on this one. But there's more. These things can't act on their own. Something's controlling them."

"Is this related to what happened in the Underground yesterday?"

Chara stiffened at Sans's question. Damn skeleton, always too smart for his own good.

"Yeah, it is." She replied. "Didn't you go and check down there after you brought us… me back?"

"Yeah, I did. Didn't find anybody though. Just leftover magical residue."

"It's not like normal Monster magic, is it?"

"No, it's not."

There was a crackling sound, and a slightly muffled voice began speaking, presumably from Undyne's walkie-talkie.

"Miss Undyne, we have a situation back at HQ that needs your attention."

"Damn it. I'll be there in a few." The warrior cracked her knuckles.

"Looks like I've gotta bug out. But, listen Frisk. You might wanna talk to Alphys about whatever you know. Then she can build us a death ray so we can blast all these suckers back to wherever they came from!"

"I dunno, Undyne; Alphys's working on a lot of things right now, she might have to take a _rayne_ check on that."

"Dammit Sans!"

"What? I thought it was pretty _humerous._ "

Chara groaned.

"Is now really the time, Sans?"

There were heavy footsteps, the the sound of a door shutting. Undyne had left the house. Though her eyes were closed, Chara could feel the stares of the two remaining monsters.

"Frisk," Toriel said in her best no-nonsense voice. "What happened while you were in the Underground? Is that where you learned all of this?"

Chara hesitated for a moment, then slowly replied.

"I'm… still not completely sure what happened down there. I think I found the magical residue Sans was talking about, and it affected me somehow. I've been feeling strange all day." She shrugged. "Sorry, I know it's not much to go on."

"It's better than what we had before." Sans said grimly. "But do you got anything else for us?"

"Just theories at this point."

"Well, that kinda makes you the expert now, doesn't it?"

"Sans, is this really necessary?" Toriel asked, her tone making Chara want to wrap her arms around her mother. Frisk'd probably do that when he was back in control anyway.

"He's right, Mom. Every bit we can get helps." She turned her head so it was facing Sans, opening one eye to watch the skeleton.

"I think those things were looking for something. I don't know what, but they're not going to stop until they get it. They don't know when to quit."

Sans gave a barely perceptible nod to indicate he'd gotten her subtle message.

"Alright then. I'm gonna go talk with Alphys. Undyne probably had the right idea, if anyone might have some idea on how we can counter these, it'll be her. You two stay safe, alright?"

And just like that, he was gone. Chara heaved a relieved sigh, feeling drained.

**Your turn, buddy.**

Frisk opened his eyes and immediately ran to Toriel, embracing his mother while looking worriedly up into her face.

"Frisk… you know that you can talk to me about anything, right?" She said, gently returning the hug. "I will listen to you no matter what it is."

A wave of guilt washed over the boy, causing him to clutch at his mother tighter. He gave a little nod, but didn't say anything.

 

"Asgore, that won't need to come along, but could you get the mix out of the top cupboards?"

Toriel's voice seemed to echo through the house, easily reaching Frisk's ears while he finished packing. It was a good thing his backpack was so sturdy, but he was careful to only take what he needed. Hopefully they'd only be gone for a couple days.

It had been two days since Toriel had been attacked, and the assaults had only gotten worse since then. It seemed that the shadowy creatures had infested the city; hardly an hour went by without someone getting swarmed. Undyne had "collaborated" with the mayor, or, more accurately, had burst into his office and shouted at him. Now she had her hands full trying to keep everyone safe with her force. She had instituted a curfew and had made sure that everyone knew to call her forces at the first hint of danger.

She was not alone, however. Asgore had reluctantly taken up the title of leader once again, though he still winced whenever anyone called him "Your Majesty". He led the Monster's own small military force calling themselves the Royal Guard. It mainly consisted of Knight-Knights, Madjicks, and Final Froggits , with a few Astigmatism's thrown in there. There weren't too many of them, but they had all agreed to help Undyne's police force as much as possible.

Unfortunately, the shadow beings were the least of the city's worries. Early yesterday morning, a massive storm had appeared just north of Mt. Ebott. It was unlike anything anyone had ever seen. Massive black clouds swirled in a vortex around some hidden focal point, and bolts of lightning would sporadically fire out of the thing to strike anything nearby. And it was headed straight for the city.

While no-one had heard from Alphys directly, her team had confirmed the storm as being magical in origin. A team had been sent out to investigate, but as soon as they got close, all contact had been lost.

Chara knew that power. The storm was not a naturally occurring consequence, but it was being generated by the same being controlling the shadow creatures. When she had Frisk inform his friends of this, it was quickly decided not to release the information to the general public. There was already enough for them to be panicking about.

Fortunately, the majority of people had begun evacuating the city the day before. There were so many people leaving that the northern highway had been clogged for hours, and there were more people trying to get out that way.

"Frisk! Are you finished packing yet?"

The boy shook his head to clear his thoughts, then shouldered the backpack. He raced downstairs to give his mother a thumbs up. She was dressed in her old purple robes she had worn back in the Underground, and had a small suitcase in one hand.

"Good. We should go, my child. Papyrus will be waiting for us."

Asgore came into the room, ducking his head unconsciously to avoid bashing his horns into the lowered ceiling. He, too, was dressed once again in Kingly attire, mostly at Toriel's insistence. She knew the effect that having someone to look up to could have on people, and, despite Asgore's reluctance, he was one of the best people to fill that role.

"Everything's ready then?" He asked.

"Yes, I think we have everything we need." Toriel replied. "Fortunately, the Underground is not too far away, and it will make a good safe haven."

Asgore nodded.

"I believe that most of the Monsters not part of the Royal Guard or the police force have already gone there. Some Humans too. Especially since the roads have been blocked."

Toriel hesitated for a moment, then sighed.

"I wish you could come with us."

Asgore gave a warm little smile, then reached out to grab Toriel's hand, raising it to his lips. Toriel gave a little gasp, but did not pull her hand away.

**He used to do that a lot.**

"Don't worry, I'll be alright. I'm sure we'll have all this sorted out in a few days. Anyway, I will come with you to the edge of the city, at least."

Toriel nodded, then reached down to pick up Frisk. The boy offered no resistance; he felt much safer in her arms.

Fortunately, the Monster district was located at the edge of the city facing Mt. Ebott, so it was not that far of a walk. There were no roads to the mountain, so driving would be all but impossible.

The two Monsters walking side by side were unusually quiet. Frisk could not see the approaching storm from here, but he could almost feel it. He was worried. He feared losing his friends, and this time, he didn't know if he could save them. He snuggled closer into Toriel's arms, wanting the reassurance of her warm body and soft fur.

"My friends!"

Frisk's attention snapped away from Toriel to see Papyrus running excitedly towards them. The skeleton was, for whatever reason, wearing his outfit that he reserved for special occasions. Like dating Frisk, for example.

"Wowie! You came already! This is going to be the best vacation ever!"

The two Boss Monsters exchanged glances.

"Yes… I suppose it will be, Papyrus." Asgore said slowly. "I've not seen you wearing that before, is that a new outfit?"

"Of course not! These are my special clothes! There will be Humans coming with us, and I, the great Papyrus, am nothing if not a responsible host! What could be more special than the opportunity to show Humans the place they trapped us in for centuries?"

"Er… I suppose." Toriel replied. Frisk shrugged. He didn't always follow Papyrus's thought process, but at least he was enthusiastic about it.

"Your Majesty! Will you be coming with us as well?"

"I'm afraid not, Papyrus." Asgore chuckled. "I will just be bringing you to the edge of town. I will be staying behind with Undyne. Someone needs to keep things running while you are all on vacation."

"I hadn't thought of that! No wonder you're the king!"

Asgore sighed. He had given up trying to convince Papyrus that he was no longer king of Monsters.

"Of course."

Papyrus continued to chatter on excitedly as they approached the city boundaries. Frisk was glad for his company. It would be a few hours walk to the mountain, and if there was one thing that Papyrus was good at, it was making even the most trivial things seem interesting and wondrous.

"Hey!"

The small group had turned at the voice, but the sound of metal clanking against asphalt gave away the voice's owner before they had completed their turn.

It was Undyne, once against wearing her full battle-armour. She wasn't wearing the helmet right now though, it hung off a strap around her waist. Frisk hadn't seen her outside of her armour since the first attack.

"Hah! You think you can sneak out of here without giving me a chance to send you off? Fat chance! C'mere, squirt!"

Frisk wiggled his way out of Toriel's arms to rush over to the warrior who leaned down to grab him into an affectionate noogie.

"Yeah, that's right! Hey Frisk, you look after Papyrus and Toriel for me while I'm not around, alright?"

The boy nodded solemnly, earning him a wide smile from the fish-woman.

"Good! I'll feel better knowing you're keeping everyone safe."

"We're lucky to have him." Toriel smiled.

"Yeah!" Papyrus joined in. "Frisk is the greatest friend and protector! Second only to the great Papyrus!"

Undyne let out a loud laugh.

"Hell yeah!"

"Having fun without me, are you?"

Suddenly, Sans was there, standing next to Undyne. The fish warrior frowned and stood up, turning to him.

"Sans, brother! Are you coming with us too?"

"Nah, I figured I'd stick around here. Gotta make sure all the hot cats get sold."

"Oh, no you don't, Sans." Undyne said, narrowing her eyes at the skeleton. "You're going with them."

"Don't worry about me, Undyne, all this is no skin off my _bones_."

"Sans, this is serious! You're not a fighter, and I don't want you to get hurt."

Chara snorted.

**Not a fighter? Undyne, you have no idea, do you?**

Toriel, Asgore and Papyrus approached the two arguing monsters, and Toriel placed a hand on Frisk's shoulder.

"Sans, I order you to go with them!"

"Sorry, Undyne. You're not my boss anymore. I'm a civilian now, remember?"

"Ngaaah! Why don't you get it? I know how exactly how much damage you can take, Sans! If you don't leave with the rest, then when whatever that thing that's making the storm gets here, it's going to… going to…"

**Oh no.**

A dark, menacing laugh suddenly seemed to reverberate all around them.

"Oh, don't mind me. By all means, **give me some ideas.** "


	7. I won't let you go

The group all whipped around at that voice, and Frisk felt his knees go weak at the sight before him. It was **him**. The golden-masked figure was floating thirty feet in the air, gazing down upon the small group before him. Strangely, there was no sign of the magical storm.

The being's gaze was focused directly on Frisk, causing the boy's skin to crawl and Chara to pull her presence as deeply into his subconscious as she could go.

"No wonder my servants could not pinpoint this fragment." The flames in the being's eyes brightened as he spoke. "Two souls, one body. Very clever. You knew I was coming for you, didn't you?"

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Undyne called out, a spear materializing in her hand as she took a step towards the floating figure, pushing Frisk behind her as she did so.

Frisk was impressed. The dark figure's gaze was trained upon the warrior, but she showed no sign of fear.

"Who am I?" He gave another laugh, causing a shudder to run down Frisk's spine. "I am beyond your comprehension, mortal. But so that you might have a name to curse with your dying breath... " He raised his arms straight out at his sides so that his hands were level with his shoulders. " **I am The Defiler**."

As he spoke, a burst of power exploded from him. The Monsters seemed unaffected, but the force behind it sent Frisk to his knees. He felt a hand on each shoulder, one bony, one soft and furry. Toriel and Sans were behind him, lending him their support. Knowing that his friends and family were there for him, it filled the boy with Determination. He stood up and took a deep breath.

The Defiler continued. "As for what I want…" he floated slightly to the side so that Frisk was once again in his field of vision, then pointed his staff at the boy.

"You have something of mine. And I **will** have it."

Chara began to rise up from his subconscious and into the forefront of Frisk's mind.

**He… He wants me.**

"Frisk?" Toriel asked quietly. The boy shook his head.

"If you wanted something, you could have just asked instead of attacking us." Asgore rumbled. "There was no need to…"

"Sans," Toriel said quietly, while Asgore attempted to negotiate with the menacing figure. "Get Frisk away from here, somewhere safe. We will handle this."

The short skeleton hesitated for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and nodded.

"Got it, Tori. I'll keep my promise."

"Thank you, Sans."

Frisk was about to object to the idea of abandoning his friends here, but by the time he had opened his mouth, Sans had already placed a boney hand on each of his shoulders. Frisk braced himself for the sensation that was about to come.

Nothing happened.

"You think I would just let you leave?" The Defiler called out to them, interrupting Asgore mid-sentence. "None of you are going anywhere until I have what I came for."

"Sans? What happened?" Toriel asked worriedly.

"I can't get out of here." The skeleton replied tersely. "None of my shortcuts are working. He's disrupting the flow of energy somehow, I can't…"

**Frisk?**

The voices around him faded as he concentrated on Chara's voice. She sounded strange, and her image's gaze had trained on The Defiler, one arm slowly stretching out towards him.

_Chara?_ The boy asked nervously. _What are you-_

**He's calling me, Frisk. He wants to bring me home. He wants to make me whole again. I have to-**

Frisk could feel his Determination rising within him. Gently he let that power flow around Chara and he pulled her back to him. She blinked a few times, her gaze seeming to clear.

**What… what happened? I feel… strange.**

_He's trying to trick you, Chara. Don't listen to him!_

Frisk took a step forward and and managed to meet The Defiler's gaze.

"You can't have her! She's my friend, and I won't let you take her away!"

**Frisk…**

"My child?"

"Wait, her?"

The Defiler raised a hand, and a ball of flame was quickly conjured in his open palm. He glared menacingly down at the gathered Monsters.

"This is your last warning. Return my power, or I will-"

The Defiler stopped short, and ball of flame dissipated. He looked down at his chest. There was a spear impaling him through it. He turned his gaze back to the Monsters where Undyne already had another spear prepared to hurl at the figure.

"I don't know what you want from him, but I know Frisk. If the punk's not just handing it over, then there's a damn good reason for it! Now get out of here, or you'll regret it!"

The dark being reached out a hand and wrapped it around the shaft of the spear impaling him. Black energy crackled from his fingertips, and the spear dissipated. Then he began floating down.

When his feet touched the ground, he spoke.

"Very well. Let us see what power this world has to offer."

Energy began building up around The Defiler, and the amount of power pouring forth was enough to have almost physical force. Frisk could feel the pressure as the air grew heavier. He never once loosened his grip on Chara, however. She seemed to be resisting The Defiler's call, but he wasn't about to take any chances with her.

The Monsters around him were also preparing for battle. Flames sparked from Toriel's hands, and Asgore had called his trident into his grasp. More spears were floating above Undyne's head and Papyrus had summoned several of his bones, both blue and white that were dancing around him. Sans was the only one who had not yet called upon his magic but, knowing him, he would wait until the last minute before doing so anyway.

Suddenly, two bolts of magical energy flew from the sky above them, crashing into The Defiler's chest. His head snapped upwards, just in time to be greeted by a volley of missiles. The weapons impacted him, exploding into great gouts of flame upon doing so. Where The Defiler had been standing was now obscured by smoke and there were small chunks of debris raining over the area.

Frisk's group looked up to where the attacks had come from, and there was a bright red figure quickly dropping towards them out of the sky. It landed on the ground beside them, the concrete shaking on it's impact.

It appeared to be some kind of robot, though it wasn't very much at all like Mettaton. It was a vibrant red with a metallic sheen, and a bright pink visor that covered over where the eyes would be. There were small cat ears set right above the visor. It was short, nearly the same height of Frisk himself, and it's body was shaped like a very familiar reptile…

"Is… Is everyone alright?"

There was no mistaking that nervous voice, even if it did have a slightly more synthetic sound to it.

"Alphys?" Undyne questioned incredulously. "Is that you?"

Alphys looked towards the fish-warrior, rubbing her hands together nervously.

"H-hey Undyne. Yeah, it's uh… it's me."

Undyne just stared at her lover. Her mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out.

"You… how… what?"

"Umm, s-sorry, this was supposed to be a surprise f-for you. I uh, I've been building this Exo-suit as part of my work combining tech with magical power. It's… it's not done yet but uh, when the magical storm disappeared and a different power exploded over here, I uh, I had to see it for myself."

"Wait wait." Undyne seemed to have gotten a grip on herself somewhat. "Is _this_ the secret project you've been working on? This… this…"

"R-robot armour? Yeah... "

Undyne let out a very uncharacteristic squeal and grabbed Alphys lifting her up into the air and swinging her around.

"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen! And you totally smacked down that Defiler guy too! Fuhuhuhu! Looks like I'm gonna have to try a little harder to keep being the badass of our relationship!"

"You… you really like it?"

"Like it? I love it! As soon as we get home, I'm gonna-"

"Not to interrupt this charming little scene." The Defiler strode out of the smoke that was slowly dissipating around him, his eyes blazing orange. "But we are not yet done here. If you think that is all that it takes to bring me down, you are sadly mistaken."

"Alphys." Toriel whispered to the lizard as Undyne put her down and turned to face their enemy with a scowl on her face. "Can you get Frisk out of here? This man is coming after him."

"I'm afraid not, Toriel." Alphys replied reluctantly. "Y-you see, there's some sort of barrier around here. It's uh, it's mostly transparent, but it seems to be much the same as the barrier in the Underground. Anything can enter…"

"But nothing can leave." Toriel finished. "So… the only way for us to get out of here is to defeat him." Her eyes narrowed and her fists balled. "The man who threatened my child."

Toriel turned her attention to Frisk.

"Child, find somewhere safe to hide, until this is over. Alright?"

The boy nodded and, after quickly scanning the area, saw a car parked on the side of the road nearby. He dashed towards it, and had almost reached it when time stopped.

He could feel the sudden change in the world deep within his soul, and had to lean himself on the car, which had gone from a bright blue to a dull shade of grey. The entire world had turned grey. He looked back to his friends and saw them all frozen in place, each of them in the midst of calling on their magic. The only things that seemed unaffected were himself, Sans and The Defiler.

The dark being watched in amusement as the small skeleton made his way around the other Monsters and stood before him, eyes closed.

"Impressive." The gold-masked man stated. "Your soul belies your power, skeleton."

"Well, I didn't get this far by throwing all my cards down right off the bat." Sans sighed.

"Listen. I don't like fighting. I don't really have the _stomach_ for it. But…" He looked around. "We finally made it. We finally got a happy ending. And you. **Y o u w o u l d t a k e i t a l l a w a y**."

The Defiler did not respond.

"Heh. I'm not gonna let that happen. So, if you don't want to have a bad time, I suggest you leave. Now."

A ball of dark energy materialized behind The Defiler, then blasted out at the skeleton, who dodged effortlessly out of the way.

"Welp, it was worth a shot. Guess you like doing things the hard way, don't you?"

Colour began to bleed back into the world, and Frisk could feel time starting again. The other Monsters paused upon seeing Sans at their forefront, a sizzling crater next to him from where The Defiler's energy had struck. Then, there was a collective gasp as he called his Gaster Blasters forth.

The massive dog-skulls immediately fired their huge beams of energy at their foe, bathing him in white light.

As the energy from the blasters expended itself, The Defiler was once again visible. A shimmering shield surrounded him, and had apparently protected him from the blast. He made a gesture, and the shield dispersed.

"Perhaps this will be amusing after all."

Frisk ducked behind the car as The Defiler fired blasts of dark energy out at the Monsters, one beam nearly slamming into Frisk's cover. Despite the onslaught, the boy periodically peeked around the car to witness the battle.

He'd seen all his friends fight before, of course. They'd been attacking him most of the time. But never before had he seen them fighting together. They fought as a team, each of them supporting the other as they hurled everything they had at The Defiler.

Asgore had closed with the dark being and was attacking him with his trident, forcing him to defend himself with his staff while his free hand fired bolts of dark magic out at the other Monsters.

Undyne was keeping a short distance, firing spears in volleys at The Defiler, and occasionally lighting up the ground beneath his feet to slam her attacks into him from below. Meanwhile, Alphys's suit allowed her to fly overhead, peppering their foe with magic and blasts of electricity.

The Defiler was focussing most of his attacks on Sans, forcing the short skeleton to spend more time dodging than attacking. Fortunately, Toriel was using her own magic to shield Sans, creating walls of fire or blasts of magic to halt or divert their enemy's magic, giving him time to throw in his own counterattacks.

As for Papyrus, he was close to Undyne, throwing his bone attacks at The Defiler. Frisk could faintly hear him calling to the dark being, asking him to stop and that he was sure he could do better than this. The taller skeleton's bravery and compassion even in the midst of battle brought a smile to Frisk's face.

He ducked again as another bolt went astray, passing overhead a little too close for comfort. When he looked back he was just in time to see another of Sans's blasters impact The Defiler, Asgore jumping back to avoid the deadly blast. This time, There was no shield to protect their enemy, and he suffered the full brunt of the blast. But even as it impacted, The Defiler merely laughed.

As the energy faded, he leapt forward, striking Asgore with his staff with such force it hurled the former king through the air, crashing into one of the nearby houses. There were no signs that the dark being had been affected at all by the power Sans had unleashed upon him.

Frisk gasped, and he heard Toriel call out Asgore's name. She threw up a wall of fire in between herself and The Defiler, then ran towards the wounded boss monster.

"Stay where you are!" Undyne cried, making a familiar gesture with her fist. The Defiler stopped short, then began to laugh once again. Frisk was beginning to hate that sound.

"You think to affect **my** soul? Your arrogance is astounding, mortal. I am more powerful than you can imagine!"

"Ha! You don't scare me! I have my friends behind me, and you have nothing!"

The warrior leapt forward, intending to drive her spear into the golden mask covering her enemy's face. But before she reached it, she seemed to pause in mid-air, then was jerked violently to the side just as a beam of black energy fired forth from The Defiler's eyes.

Sans lowered his hand, blue flames slowly dying out around his bony digits. Frisk could see his shoulders heaving with exertion, but he stood his ground.

"You alright?" Sans called out to Undyne as the warrior pulled herself to her feet from where she had crashed into the pavement.

"I could've handled it!" She shouted defiantly.

"I'll take that as a thank you."

 

**He's toying with them.**

Undyne unleashed another volley of spears upon The Defiler, and this time the dark being simply ignored them, allowing them to impact him as he sent another wave of energy at Sans. The skeleton barely made it out of the way of this one, and Frisk could see sweat beginning to bead on his skull.

**He knows they can't beat him.** Chara's voice was devoid of hope, her words reverberating dully inside Frisk's head. The boy narrowed his eyes. He hadn't come this far to give up now. If they couldn't beat The Defiler in combat, then there had to be another way.

**Frisk? Whatever you're thinking, stop it.**

_Stop what?_ the boy asked innocently.

**I know you. You're about to go out there and do something stupid. I'm telling you, it won't work.**

_I couldn't beat Asriel in combat either._

**That was different! Asriel was a good person, he just… forgot. There's nothing that you can Save here!**

_I'm not going to sit by while my friends fight._ Frisk retorted. _If fighting isn't the answer, then maybe kindness is_.

**Don't you dare-**

Determination filled Frisk as he stood up and stepped out from behind the car. Even as he did so, a massive wave of energy exploded from The Defiler. The force behind it bowled all of the Monsters over, and sent Frisk flying backwards. The boy crashed into the sidewalk, scraping his arm against the rough cement on it's edge.

Frisk blinked his eyes a few times to refocus his vision and stumbled to his feet, bringing a hand up to clutch at his bleeding arm as he gazed around the battlefield. Bits of rubble were scattered around and he could see his friends attempting to get up from where the onslaught of power had deposited them.

A menacing laugh brought his gaze sweeping up to where the Defiler floated several feet in the air. Frisk's Determination almost wavered upon meeting his gaze.

Almost.

"This farce of a battle is over. If you will not give me what is mine…"

Frisk let out a scream and dropped to his knees as a brutal pain tore into his skull.

"Then I shall **take** it!"

Frisk clutched and his head, wrapping his fingers into his hair, tears running down his face as the pain increased. His own cries were mirrored by Chara, as an invisible hand reached down to grasp her, forcefully yanking her away.

In his mind he could see her image being torn away by The Defiler's grasp. But he reached out and grabbed Chara by the hand, seeing her whip her head away from their tormentor to stare at him, her eyes filled with fear.

_I won't let you go._

**Frisk, what are you doing?**

Frisk let out another cry, falling forward onto his face as if yanked forward as the pain increased again.

_I won't let you go!_

He could see Chara hanging before him, torn between the grip of The Defiler and his own. He reached out another trembling hand and it quickly joined his other in grasping Chara's own digits. Then, he pulled.

_I won't let you go!_

Despite the agony he felt, he refused to give up. If The Defiler wanted her, he would have to go through him first!

_I won't let y-_

There was a snap.


	8. But I'm not Human, am I?

Chara let out a groan. She opened bleary eyes to stare at the pavement her face was pressed against, distantly noting the specks of red spattered about it. Her body ached, and she could already feel bruises forming on her shoulders and back.

She began pushing herself upright on her forearms, taking in a shaky breath as she did so. As she clambered to her feet, using the blue car as support, she was struck by the feeling that something was… wrong.

She let out a hiss of pain as her fingers brushed against her torn right arm. She stared at the gash in her forearm for a moment. This was the second time this week that arm had been damaged. She really needed to keep Frisk out of-

Frisk. Her blood immediately turned to ice as she identified the source of the feeling of wrongness. For the first time for as long as she could remember, she couldn't feel Frisk's presence in her head.

**F… Frisk?**

She delved into the depths of her mind, searching for any trace of the boy.

**Frisk? Come out! This isn't funny!**

Whenever one of them was dominant, the other could sink back into the subconscious reaches of their mind and hide away there. Chara knew that, but still, even if Frisk was all the way down there, there should be some indication of his presence. But she found… nothing.

**Frisk!**

But nobody came.

An amused laugh suddenly washed over her, and Chara whipped her head around to gaze at The Defiler, floating once again, but this time, only a few feet into the air. Her face contorted with fury at the sight of him, even as the calculating part of her mind noted that she no longer seemed drawn to the dark being.

"I must admit, I'm impressed." The gold-masked man chuckled. "Not even the last of the Rune Masters could perform a Soul Lock that I could not penetrate."

"You!" Chara yelled. "What did you do to Frisk!?"

The Defiler cocked his head.

"I assume you are speaking of the other pathetic soul that hid you from me?" The orange glow of his eyes intensified. "He stopped me from taking you. But an act like that does not come without consequences."

Chara began to tremble. This… this thing. It had taken away what was left of her brother. And now Frisk was gone too. She felt something building in her chest, the same energy that had begun to awaken when Toriel had been attacked. It had seemingly disappeared when the danger was over, but now it was returning, and far stronger than before.

There was a shuffling sound, and then Sans was behind her, a hand on each of her shoulders.

"Talk to me, kid."

Chara kept her gaze trained on her enemy, who was merely watching the proceedings.

"He did something… He tried to rip me away but, Frisk wouldn't let him. And now I can't… I can't feel him anymore."

She choked on the last words, anger and grief warring within her for dominance, even as the pressure within her continued to build. It was unfamiliar, and at the same time…

The Defiler floated back down to ground level, still facing Chara and Sans behind her. He began walking towards them.

"It is of no consequence. If I cannot tear you from your body, I will destroy it. You will have nowhere left to go."

She wouldn't do it. She wouldn't let him win. Frisk had saved her, and she wasn't going to let his sacrifice go to waste. Suddenly, she knew what she needed to do.

**Humans can't use magic anymore. But… I'm not Human, am I?**

Even as she thought this, her right eye exploded with power, flames of red energy flickering from it, mirroring Sans's own glow behind her. She opened her palms, and, when she closed them into fists again, each hand held a knife made of the same energy.

The sudden display of power made The Defiler stop his approach. Chara raised one of the knives and pointed it straight at him.

"You." Her voice had changed, it sounded as though two people were speaking at once, and it vibrated with power.

"I know what you are. You're what I used to be. Even knowing that, Frisk would have tried to spare you. Tried to understand you, like he did me." Her voice trembled for a moment.

"But I know better. You won't stop, will you? Even if I were to give you what you want, you would still destroy everything."

The Defiler crossed his arms in front of him, and Chara could have sworn he was raising an amused eyebrow behind that mask.

"I'm not going to let you cause any more damage than you already have. You want my power?" Three orbs of red energy formed above her head, each the size of a baseball. "You're not going to get it without a fight!"

She launched the orbs with a thought, each of them homing in on The Defiler. With incredible speed, he uncrossed his arms and plucked his staff out of the air, deflecting two of the balls of energy before they impacted him. The third however, struck home and made a sizzling sound as it burned through his robes, before dissipating.

"It seems your fragment may be stronger than I had believed!" The Defiler gloated, summoning his own magic to crackle around him. "But you are not strong enough to defeat me!" He gestured and two beams of energy homed in on her position.

Before they could strike however, they were intercepted by beams of pure white, and Chara looked up in disbelief to see two Gaster Blasters over her head, countering The Defiler's attack. The beams clashed, then both spent themselves out, the magic fading away in the air. Chara quickly scanned the battlefield, and saw the other Monsters picking themselves up from the ground. She grinned at The Defiler.

"Maybe not. But I don't need to be. I have allies. You. Have. Nothing!"

The tips of her knives began to glow stronger, and she darted to the side, away from Sans, and swung her weapons at her enemy. If they were normal knives, they would not have been anywhere near close enough to hit The Defiler.

Fortunately, these were anything but normal knives.

The glow at the tip of each weapon burst into a long, thin beam of energy, effectively extending her reach by incredible proportions. Each beam impacted The Defiler, and, though she was unable to see his soul, or how much damage he had taken, she knew she had hurt him. This battle was far from over.

 

Chara ducked behind a single wall that was all that was left of some poor Monster's house. The top of the wall exploded just above her head, causing debris to fall all around her. She summoned four more of her orbs and took a quick peek out at the battlefield before firing them out at The Defiler. Undyne was currently attacking The Defiler head-on, the other Monsters supporting her assault. The whole block was all but decimated with the sheer amount of power being thrown around. There would need to be a lot of repairs done if they made it through this.

The Defiler had increased the intensity of his assault after Chara's magic had revealed itself. It was becoming more and more difficult to evade his attacks while still keeping up her own.

She wasn't sure how long they had been fighting, but she hoped that her newfound power would continue to last. Fortunately, she was not alone, but her allies were beginning to tire as well.

She flinched as another burst of power washed over the area, grateful for the cover she had, moderate though it was. As it subsided, she prepared to leap out and renew her attack on their enemy, but paused at the sudden sound of gunfire.

**Wait, gunfire?**

"Frisk, bro! Are you alright?"

Chara looked up in surprise. She hadn't even heard the large bunny Monster approaching, which was a feat in and of itself, given he was wearing his full battle-armour.

"01? What are you doing here?"

The guard-turned-police-officer paused for a moment, though if he was thrown off by Chara's eyes or voice, he didn't say anything.

"When me and some of the boys saw the explosions, we like, went to make sure everyone was evacuated from this area so no-one got hurt. But we were, like, totally trapped once we got onto this street. Then, we saw Miss Undyne fighting that creepy black dude, so like, we decided to help." He adjusted his grip on his sword.

Chara peeked over the wall, and sure enough, she saw several Humans taking cover in one of the buildings. They were wearing black riot gear, and had the letters S.W.A.T. in white on their backs. Most of them were armed with pistols, but a few had rifles, and they were ducking in and out of cover, taking potshots at the godlike being.

Humans and Monsters fighting together to take down a common enemy. If someone had even suggested the possibility of this happening to her, she would have laughed in their face. And yet, here they were.

"Stay down, alright? I gotta coordinate the men while Miss Undyne's kicking ass. Don't worry, little dude, we'll teach this creepy guy who the law is in this town!"

The large bunny Monster glanced quickly out from the cover, then bolted back to where the Humans were, summoning a volley of magical bolts to fire at The Defiler to cover himself. Chara wondered vaguely if he might be more competent than she had previously believed.

But now was not the time for that. She had no intention of staying down here. Anyway, it would take everything they had to bring The Defiler down. With that in mind, she vaulted out from behind the wall, and began weaving her knives in an intricate pattern, focussing on slashing her beams of energy into The Defiler, and not hitting anyone else in her way. Fortunately, none of the other Monsters were close enough to the being to get in the way of her attack.

Undyne had fallen back to the Humans. Chara could see her gesturing wildly while speaking to 01. Since she had pulled back, Asgore, Papyrus and Sans had taken up the brunt of the assault. In between dodging The Defiler's attacks, Chara was able to take note of how the Skeleton brothers worked together.

Sans leapt and dodged about the field of combat, shielded by walls of bones that grew and retracted from the ground as quickly as the short skeleton moved. Papyrus was focusing almost completely on defense, while Sans unleashed his own devastating attacks on The Defiler.

Chara noted that no matter where Sans dodged to, Papyrus's bone walls not only protected his brother, but were also designed so that they never blocked the line of sight of their allies towards The Defiler.

Asgore, it seemed, had given up trying to keep close to their enemy, and was standing near Papyrus, alternately sending waves of fire towards the gold-masked being and deflecting the attacks sent towards Papyrus. Fortunately, this gave Chara a lot of room to use her own abilities.

As another barrage of gunfire erupted from the building the police forces were in, The Defiler made a fist with one hand. A ball of black energy appeared before him, smaller than most of the blasts he'd been throwing at them, and black lightning crackled from it. He gestured, and it went flying towards the Humans, intercepting and destroying several of the bullets in its way.

But before it could impact, Toriel was there. Chara's mother threw up both hands and called a wall of flame into existence, the flames burning bright white. The Defiler's attack impacted the wall, exploding the moment it did so. The force behind the explosion was so great that cracks appeared in the pavement below it. Toriel's wall was obliterated, and Toriel herself was pushed backwards from the force but she did not fall.

She was panting heavily, but seemed otherwise unharmed. Flames licked at her fingertips and she stood proud in defence of her Human allies.

Chara wasn't sure how, but she could tell that The Defiler was getting annoyed. She smiled at that thought. It was a good thing too, she was getting tired of dodging.

Even as she thought that, something wrapped around each of her legs and squeezed, effectively immobilizing her. She looked down, wide-eyed and saw two tendrils of The Defiler's energy clutching at her legs, each of them anchored in the ground below her.

She felt something pulsing in her soul and looked up in time to see four beams of energy in a diamond pattern firing towards her from the tip of The Defiler's staff.

Chara was unable to pull free from the grip of the magic that held her. In desperation, she began hacking at the tendrils with her knives, but there was no way she would be able to get out of the way in time.

She braced for impact, but it never came. Before the beams could hit her, two of them were deflected by magical energy firing from above. Alphys swooped down in front of her, raising her right hand and forming a shimmering shield of energy before her. The remaining two beams slammed into the shield, one of them dissipating on contact while the other shattered the shield and hit Alphys square in the chest.

Alphys stumbled on the impact, and a few high-pitched beeping sounds began to sound from her suit, but she took off regardless, Chara having finally managed to free herself from The Defiler's magic. The small lizard peppered their enemy with more bursts and blasts of magic, trying to keep his attention away from Chara.

But The Defiler had had enough.

Alphys's flight was beginning to slow, and the dark being fired another volley of blasts at her, each travelling far faster than anything he had thrown at them thus far.

Several of the blasts smashed into Alphys, sending the airborne lizard crashing to the ground, landing in a heap against a semi-collapsed wall. Sparks flew from the exo-suit, and Chara could see some of the metal bent out of shape from the impact of the attack.

But The Defiler was not done yet. Energy gathered at the tip of his staff, and he launched another blast at the helpless lizard.

"Alphys!"

Undyne moved with incredible speed, somehow managing to get in front of Alphys before the magic impacted her. She screamed at the contact, and the force from the attack caused what was left of the wall to collapse in on itself, obscuring the two from sight.

Chara let out a cry, and unleashed the beams of energy from her knives at The Defiler, but he ignored her attack, instead focussing on Toriel. Black lightning crackled at his fingertips and he unleashed the power at Chara's mother.

Before it could reach it's target however, the attack was intercepted by a wall of bones. The lightning jumped between each bone, shattering them all, but expending itself before it hit Toriel.

The Defiler let out an unamused grunt, and several tendrils of energy lashed out, one wrapping itself around Sans' foot and flinging him into the air like a rag doll. Seeing this, Papyrus immediately chased after his brother, his arms stretched out as if to catch him. He did not see the black bolt that hit him in the back, throwing him out of Chara's vision.

Asgore, Chara and Toriel were throwing everything they had at The Defiler, but he deflected most of their attacks. Those that got through had little outward effect on the dark being.

"No more! I have humored you long enough. This ends now!"

As The Defiler spoke, he brought his staff down to impact on the ground. Instantly, the ground underneath Asgore and Toriel began to liquify, and they were sucked into the dark goo before Chara even had a chance to cry out.

With his free hand, The Defiler conjured a ball of flame far larger than anything he had used up to this point and hurled it at the building that the police force had taken refuge in. Under the onslaught of power, the building crumbled in on itself in a shower of dust and debris.

Chara's breathing was ragged. She couldn't believe it. Just like that, only she was left facing The Defiler. He was too strong for her to defeat. Frisk would find a way, there had to be some other way to beat him. She just had to stall him until she could figure it out. She glared out from under her bangs at the man who now faced her.

"Do you understand? You never had a chance. This was always going to end this way."

Chara closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. She released her fists, and the knives faded out of existence. When she opened her eyes again, her right was no longer glowing. She looked towards the enemy.

"Why?" She asked, her voice hollow. "Why me?"

The Defiler gave a cold laugh.

"I was once infinite. But I was betrayed by short-sighted fools who did not understand power. Their actions shattered me across all of reality. All that exists, and all that could ever exist." He took a step forward.

"That is all you are. A fragment of my soul, nothing more. Everything you are, everything you have, came from me."

"That's not true!" Chara protested weakly. "I was born, I had parents! I… I..."

"Your protests ring hollow, even to your own ears, don't they?" Another step. "Your body is of no consequence, it is your soul that is mine. I will wait no longer. Surrender to me, or I will allow your consciousness to remain long enough to watch me purge this world."

Frisk? I don't know if you're there, or if you can hear me, but I have an idea. I've only got one shot at it, though. If I don't make it… well, I guess we won't really have to worry about it for long.

Even though there was no response, Chara felt a little better speaking to Frisk. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and left Frisk's body.

The instant she did so, she once again felt the pull of The Defiler's call. She began to float towards him, vaguely aware of Frisk's body collapsing to the ground like a puppet with it's strings cut. But, for the first time, she could see The Defiler's soul.

It was massive. And… broken. She could see the massive cracks running through it. Despite all of The Defiler's power, he was but a shadow of what he once was.

As she was drawn towards him, she began to see the parts of his soul where she would fit, the cracks and crevices within him that she would fill. She was also able to see how much damage they had done to him, and she winced at the discovery. They had thrown everything they had at him, and though the damage was significant, he could probably go through that same fight again before the damage he had taken became life-threatening.

She steeled herself. This had to work. If it didn't, there would be nothing left that could stop The Defiler.

The gold-masked man stretched out a hand, and Chara was pulled violently forward, beginning to merge with his soul. The second she began to do so, the sheer malice and hatred emanating from the soul washed over her, threatening to destroy all traces of her consciousness.

But she held firm. She had to, if only just for a little longer. She felt herself being pulled apart, her soul seeping into the cracks of The Defiler's soul. She was so close to being completely absorbed, but she wouldn't let herself fall apart just yet.

Almost… Almost… **now**!

With every ounce of strength she had, she tore herself free from The Defiler's soul. He had let her into his most vulnerable parts, and she fully intended to make him pay for that. She began shredding at his soul from the inside, clawing her way free from his shocked grasp.

She pulled herself free, escaping the confines of his soul, elation filling her. It had worked! She'd gotten away with it! Her elation was quickly crushed however, as The Defiler retaliated, and she felt herself being pulled back into him, this time with far more force than the last. Though she struggled against it with all of her might, it was to no avail, and his grasp only tightened on her.

Well, if she couldn't escape, she intended to do as much damage to him as she possibly could. She turned her attention back to the soul that loomed over her, intending to make one final, desperate strike on him.

Before she could, another force suddenly made itself known. Something else plucked her from The Defiler's grasp and sent her careening back through the air to collide with Frisk's body, entering it once again with ease.

She opened her eyes and pushed herself up on her hands and knees to gaze over to where The Defiler stood, ignoring the pain that enveloped her body. She could hear screaming, and she quickly realized it was coming from The Defiler.

From behind him, arms wrapped around his chest in a tight embrace, was another figure dressed in black robes. This one also appeared to be wearing a mask… or was it a skull? It was difficult to tell. There were two cracks around his eyes, the one on the left travelling up towards his forehead, and the one on the right travelling down and stopping just shy of his jaw. Where his hands were locked in front of The Defiler's chest, Chara could see that each palm had a perfectly round hole in the middle of it.

The Defiler thrashed in the figure's grip, but appeared unable to break free from him. The other figure looked towards Chara and spoke. She could not understand his words, but somehow, she knew what he said.

"Child, you have redeemed yourself." The being looked down at the man in his grasp. "And now, so have I."

There was a bright flash, and then everything went black.


	9. Are you going to kill me?

_Chara wandered through the blackness. She wasn't sure how long she had been walking, but it felt like it had been a long time. An eternity maybe._

_When she had first arrived, she had called out for Frisk a few times, hoping to find him here. But she had stopped trying a while ago. She didn't like the way her voice was swallowed up by the darkness around her._

_Was she dead? She had died before, but it had felt… different. At least she thought it had. It was a long time ago. If she was dead, then where was Frisk?_

_She had no answers to her questions. There was really nothing to do but walk. Even thinking seemed pointless. There was nothing but blackness and silence._

_Then, she noticed something ahead. A light, just a pinprick, but in this utter blackness around her, it stood out like a beacon. Chara stopped for a moment, gazing in wonder at the light. Then, she slowly began to walk towards it. Something about it felt… familiar._

_As she closed in on it, it grew larger until it was a spotlight, shining down from above onto a small scene. What she saw made her stop again, her heart in her throat._

_She had seen this before. It was a bed of golden flowers basking in the light. In front of them, with his back to her, was Asriel._

_Chara let out a choked cry and ran towards him, tears filling her eyes. She stopped just outside of the circle of light, frozen in place as Asriel slowly turned to face her._

_He was just like she remembered, and just like he was when Frisk brought them both back to the Ruins before leaving the Underground. Wearing that green striped shirt he always loved that constantly had white fur on the shoulders from where his ears flopped onto them. His big brown eyes widened as he saw her and he gave a small smile._

_"Hey, Chara." He even sounded the same as she remembered. Long ago, in a different time. Before everything went wrong. "It's… it's good to see you again." He looked around hesitantly. "Is Frisk here?"_

_It took Chara a moment to remember how to speak, so she wiped away the tears in her eyes before replying._

_"I… I don't think so. I haven't seen him in a while. I don't remember what happened, but…"_

_Asriel looked down sadly for a moment, then seemed to brighten, returning his gaze to Chara._

_"Well then, when you see him again, pass this message on to him too, okay?"_

_"What message?"_

_Asriel stepped towards her and opened his arms. Suddenly, Chara could move again and she hurled herself into her brother's embrace, holding him tightly while wetting his ears with the tears that she could not hold back. Asriel hugged her back just as hard._

_"Thank you." He whispered into her ear, voice quivering. "Both of you. You saved me from myself and then… then you saved me from Him."_

_"I… I don't understand."_

_Asriel gently patted her back as Chara's sobs began to settle._

_"The Defiler. He found me underground. He… absorbed me. Said I still had a part of his power. But when you attacked his soul, you tore me free."_

_"Are we dead?" Chara asked quietly, her tears slowly subsiding, though her grip on her brother did not._

_"You're not." Asriel replied. "But, this time… well, there's no going back for me." Chara felt him give a small shrug. "Maybe it was selfish, but I just… I wanted to say goodbye before I went."_

_"Asriel…"_

_"It's alright. I'm… I'm finally ready to move on. Maybe there's a place of peace for me somewhere out there. Even if there isn't… I was so tired of being a flower."_

_"It wasn't supposed to be like this!" Chara whimpered. "We were supposed to free everyone together! If you had just listened to me…"_

_"I know. I couldn't do it though. I looked at them, and all I could see was you."_

_"They were trying to kill us! You didn't have to…" Chara choked on the words. "You didn't have to die. It wasn't… I…"_

_"You did it though, didn't you? You brought everyone up to the surface. You saved everyone, Chara."_

_"No I didn't. Frisk saved them. I just want…."_

_"I know."_

_Asriel's grip tightened on Chara, then he pulled back, a sad smile on his face as tears threatened to fall from his eyes. Chara wiped her eyes clear and gazed longingly at her brother._

_"Hey Chara? Can you do me a favour?"_

_Chara sniffed and nodded._

_"When you wake up… You've got a whole life that you can live. Be happy, okay?"_

 

Chara sat up straight in bed with a gasp. Then she immediately fell back onto the pillows, realizing just how exhausted and drained she felt. Her throat felt like she'd been drinking sand, and the room seemed to spin around her as she tried to get her bearings.

Finally the spinning stopped, and she realized that she was in her… well, Frisk's room. Everything seemed the same, except…

She looked over to the side, and there was a small brown chair that certainly hadn't been there before. Sitting in the chair was Sans, apparently reading a joke book, though from what she remembered of the joke book in his house back in Snowdin, he could actually be reading anything.

He looked up from his book to see her staring at him from where she lay. He seemed to study her for a moment, then reached behind him and pulled out a glass of water which he offered to her.

"I wondered which one of you would be waking up. Here, take this. You're probably thirsty."

Chara hesitantly accepted the proffered drink and propped herself up on one arm to sip at it. Sans didn't seem to be in a rush, and he waited for her to finish the glass before taking it from her unresisting hand and setting it on the dresser.

"So, then. Any sign of Frisk?"

Chara shook her head. She still felt empty. She had grown so used to the boy's presence that not having him in her head just seemed… wrong.

Sans nodded, seemingly unsurprised.

"Are you going to kill me?" Chara asked resignedly, letting her head slump back onto the pillows.

Sans shrugged.

"I wasn't planning on it."

Chara looked at him in surprise.

"Why not? You worried that I'm lying and you'll accidentally kill Frisk too?"

"Way I see it, you'd be more likely to tell me Frisk is there so that I wouldn't risk killing you. Anyway, bit of a waste keeping you alive here just to kill you now."

"I thought you hated me." Chara muttered.

"During the fight, when whatever happened to Frisk happened." The skeleton said slowly. "When you said he was gone, you sounded like someone who had just lost their best friend. Believe me, I know what that sounds like. And it's not something that you can fake either.

"If you were the same person that you were when we fought, I would kill you now before I risked letting you out of this room. But Frisk trusted you, and maybe the kid was on to something."

Chara rubbed at her forehead, then stared at the ceiling for a moment. He seemed calmer than she would have expected, and she wasn't sure what to think of Sans's seeming acceptance of her, but she could deal with that later. Finally, she asked,

"How long was I out?"

"Been a week now, you've barely even stirred since we brought you back here. Toriel's been a wreck, especially since her healing magic didn't seem to have any effect on you. We were going to get Alphys to check on you since it seems like it was mostly your soul that was damaged, but she's been… preoccupied."

Chara turned her gaze back to Sans.

"So… everyone's alright?" she asked cautiously.

"Not everyone. Some of the Humans didn't make it when that building collapsed on them, and it was touch and go with Officer 01 for a while. But most of us managed to get away without anything life-threatening." He leaned forward. "So, what happened out there?"

"You don't remember?"

"If you recall, I got hurled pretty far at the end there. I would have come down to earth pretty hard if Papyrus hadn't managed to slow my fall with his soul effect." Sans's smile seemed a little strained. "By the time I got back, all I saw was a flash of light, and everyone was scattered across the battlefield, with no sign of The Defiler."

Chara furrowed her brow in concentration. Her memories from the end of the battle were fuzzy at best.

"I don't… the last thing I remember is being pulled towards The Defiler. I think… I think someone else was there?" She shook her head. "It's hard to remember."

"Guess that's not surprising. Your soul took a lot of damage in the fight. You might have some patchy spots in your memory for a while. But then, what do I know about your soul?"

Chara stiffened and shot him a glance. After a moment, she relaxed.

"Alright." She sighed. "How much do you know?"

"That Defiler guy, he was coming for you, and you specifically. You knew about the creatures he sent after us, and you guessed at his motivations. Sounds like you two knew each other at some point."

"That's not… entirely accurate. I **was** him at some point."

Sans didn't say anything, so Chara continued.

"What we fought back there... that was only a fraction of the power that he once had. I remember him talking about how he had been betrayed and his soul was shattered." She reached a hand to her chest and tightened it into a fist.

"And apparently, that's how I happened." She said bitterly. "Just a broken piece of some all-powerful demon god. Explains a lot, doesn't it?"

"I had wondered how Determination alone could give someone the power to wreak so much havoc on a timeline." Sans replied slowly. "So you're saying this Defiler guy once had the same power?"

"Yeah. He probably would have gotten it back if Frisk hadn't…" Her voice trailed off.

The skeleton leaned back and heaved a sigh.

"There's not much that can stop Frisk when he sets his mind to something. If he wanted to protect you, well, there's not much you or anyone else could do to stop him. Means he thought you were worth protecting."

Chara snorted.

"This is Frisk we're talking about." Her voice was tinged with both annoyance and fond amusement. "He thinks anyone is worth protecting. He'd offer a helping hand to the worst refuse that the world has to offer."

"Frisk's a good kid. But he's not stupid. He's just more aware of people's good side than they themselves are. Of course, it's up to them whether or not they use it, isn't it?"

Chara sat up gingerly, then pulled her legs up towards her so that her chin could rest on her knees.

"Doesn't matter now, does it? He's gone." She felt herself on the verge of tears, but she held them back, refusing to cry.

"You're sure about that?"

"Unless he somehow found a way to hide himself from me in our own head." Chara snapped. "Why, you think there's another explanation?"

"This stuff isn't exactly my field. But Alphys might be able to figure something out, she's kinda the expert when it comes to souls."

Chara looked up, then narrowed her eyes.

"Wait, you said she was preoccupied with something. What happened?"

Sans hesitated for a moment.

"It's… Undyne."

Chara froze.

"What… did she-"

"She's not dust… not yet anyway. Right before I got tossed, Alphys got knocked down and Undyne took a blast head-on. Ever since, her condition has been… erratic."

Sans paused as he searched for the right words.

"She hasn't woken up since the blast, and her body is unstable. One moment she's melting in front of us, the next she's fine. And the next… it's like she's got a second body and she's trying to grow into it." Sans shook his head. "Not a perfect description, but it's the best I can do. Alphys has been in a panic, she's been trying everything she can to restore Undyne, but nothing's worked so far."

Chara swallowed. She wondered if…

"Sans, take me to her."

"Whoa now, easy there. You just got up, you need to-"

"I'm serious, Sans. I think I might know what's wrong with her."

Sans stopped and just stared at her. Chara met his gaze, but took a deep breath to prepare herself.

"I can explain it on the way there. But we need to go; If I'm right, I don't know how much time Undyne has, but if we can't act fast enough, she will die."

"Just tell me now, and I'll go over there myself."

Chara shook her head.

"No, I need to be there." She couldn't stay alone in this house and risk her mother coming into the room. Not yet anyway. She was beginning to formulate a plan, but she would need time before she could carry it out.

Sans hesitated for a moment, then he relented.

"Alright kid, but we're going downstairs to put some shoes on you first. Tori… well, she's probably gonna kill me for this anyway, but let's not have it any more painful than it has to be, alright?"

He extended a hand to the girl, who took it carefully.

"Just be careful alright? You're probably still pretty weak, and the last thing I need is you falling for me."

Chara would have rolled her eyes, but at the moment she was too busy trying to keep her legs under her. Sans was right, she did feel incredibly weak. Weak, and now lightheaded. She leaned against Sans for support, but the skeleton didn't seem to mind. He led them towards the door, but Chara grabbed his shoulder, causing him to stop and look at her in surprise.

"Just… one second, okay?"

Chara let go of Sans, and wobbled her way over to the dresser. Fortunately, it was only a couple of steps, but she still had to grab onto it for support when she got there. She knelt down and opened the bottom drawer while Sans watched her silently from behind.

She ignored his gaze and rummaged through the clothing until she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a small rectangular box and carefully opened the lid.

Inside was a small, golden, heart-shaped locket on a gold chain. Frisk had brought it back from New Home and kept it here for her. He'd never said why exactly.

Chara hesitated for a moment before quashing her indecision and slipping the chain over her head. It was her locket after all. She thought about opening it, but decided against it. She'd already memorized the interior, and she was already wasting time.

There was something comforting about having the cool metal against her skin again, and she felt slightly better about standing up and leaning herself on Sans for support. As they finally left the room and headed for the stairs at a slow pace, she began explaining her idea to Sans.

"I killed Undyne several times." She stated bluntly, but quietly. He already knew what she had done, there was no point in dancing around the issue, but if Toriel was home… well, she certainly wasn't ready to bare her sins to her mother.

"But whenever I did, she wouldn't die. Not right away. She'd be moments from becoming dust, but she'd re-form herself and attack with renewed vigour. When I did manage to defeat her, she would begin to melt before turning to dust.

"In the last timeline though, something changed. I took her out in one hit… and she came back again. But this time, she was… different. And far stronger than anything I'd ever seen before."

They reached the stairs, and Chara began the laborious task of going down them. She was grateful for Sans's support and his continued silence, though she was sure he wasn't too thrilled about their current conversation topic.

"She was stronger, angrier, tougher. She killed me. She killed me a lot. And she was the only Monster that took more than two hits to kill. She refused to die no matter what I threw at her.

"When I did beat her she melted again before turning to dust. It wasn't until this timeline when Frisk and I visited Alphys's True Lab that we realized why. Undyne has Determination."

"And you think this is what the problem is?" Sans said, reaching the entryway and stepping back so Chara could sit down and put on her shoes.

"The symptoms sound the same. If it does have to do with Determination, then Alphys might be able to do something to save her. If not…"

Sans was about to speak, but before he could, Toriel entered the room via the kitchen. Upon seeing Chara, she gasped and dropped the vase of flowers she was carrying, not even reacting as it shattered against the floor, spraying water and flowers everywhere.

Chara winced at the sound, but didn't stop trying to do up her laces. She'd always had a problem with shoes, and the fact that her fingers were currently only slightly more helpful than a wet noodle certainly wasn't helping.

"Frisk? What are you doing up? Sans, why didn't you tell me he was up!?" She began to walk towards the girl. "You shouldn't be out of bed, Frisk. I was so worried that you wouldn't wake up. Like-" She caught herself, but Chara knew she was talking about her.

"I'm not Frisk." Chara said quietly, finally managing to finish the shoelace and looking up into her mother's eyes.

Toriel stopped at her words, and Chara ignored the look that Sans gave her. She pressed on.

"I'm sorry, Mom, but I need to go. I might be able to save Undyne before it's too late. It's… the least I can do." She hesitated, then resumed quietly, lowering her head so that her bangs covered her eyes.

"I promise, when we get back, I'll explain everything."

"Sans…" Toriel looked to the skeleton, her voice caught between a question and a plea.

"Let the kid do this, Tori." He said quietly. "I'll keep an eyesocket on 'em, and we'll be back before you know we were gone."

Toriel still looked like she wanted to protest, but she held back, and gave a small nod.

"Be back quickly, alright?" she called as Chara took Sans's hand. "And be careful!"

 

On the other end of Sans's shortcut, there was a small wastebasket, which Chara immediately made use of, her shoulders shuddering as she heaved bile into the container. She had never enjoyed taking the shortcuts as much as Frisk had, and in her weakened state, the sensation had disturbed her to a much larger degree. Sans just stood behind her, unsure of what to do.

Finally, she spat and wiped her mouth, shakily getting to her feet and making a face.

"You, uh… okay there, kid?"

"I'll be fine." she managed, finally able to take stock of her surroundings.

She'd only been to Alphys's lab a couple of times, and it was a lot less busy here than she remembered. In fact, though all the lights were on, the place appeared to be deserted. It felt a lot bigger when it was empty, though, in reality, it wasn't much bigger than a school gym.

There were various tables, machines and equipment around the place, each one sectioned off into it's own area. Everything was off, there were no sounds of whirring or machines beeping. It was silent other than the sound of her feet hitting the floor. Sans's slippered feet, of course, made no sound.

Sans brought them to the elevator at the back of the lab, and entered. There were only three buttons in the elevator, zero, one, and two. Sans hit zero and the doors closed with a whooshing sound and the elevator began descending.

Of course Alphys would have a basement. She'd probably worked on the exo-suit down here as well. The elevator stopped, a little too suddenly for Chara, who would have fallen had Sans not caught her quick enough.

She flashed him a grateful smile, and he shrugged, letting her lean on him again as they made their way into the basement. It wasn't nearly as large as the True Lab back in the Underground; it seemed to consist solely of the hallway they found themselves in and a door at the far end of it. As they approached said door, they quickly began picking up sounds of a certain reptile having a panic attack.

Sans placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it, revealing the cluttered, messy labspace beyond.

There was various equipment, machines and wires strewn everywhere, obscuring the pearly white floors and even walls in some areas. Chara didn't recognize most of it, though she thought she saw pieces of the exo-suit in the giant mess. They could see Alphys rummaging through a file cabinet, crying to herself and letting out frustrated squeaks periodically.

The other half of the room was divided from the rest by a glass wall. It, by comparison, was spotless, to the point where it looked like it had been cleaned almost compulsively. The only thing on that side was a long hospital-style bed. On the bed, thrashing about desperately, was Undyne.

Sans hadn't been exaggerating. Even as Chara watched, the fish warrior began to calm down, only to start literally melting into the bed. A few seconds later, a familiar light began to shine from behind her eyepatch and her form became bulkier before beginning the cycle all over again.

"Alphys." Sans called out. The lizard froze, then snapped her head in their direction.

"Frisk! You're… you're alright!" The brief spark of happiness that burned in her eyes was gone as soon as it came. "But Undyne… I can't save her! I don't know what's wrong with her, and I'm afraid that she'll… she'll…"

Tears began rolling down the small scientist's face as she choked on the words.

"Alphys. I think I know what's wrong with her." Chara said, tearing her gaze away from Undyne. In her weakened state, even watching that made her stomach began to roil again.

"Y- you do? Frisk, since when did you-"

"There's not time for that, Alphys." Chara interrupted. "Listen, Undyne has Determination poisoning."

Alphys's eyes widened.

"What? How-"

"Listen to me! She's probably the strongest Monster there is, and her body produces Determination naturally. But she's still a Monster. You've seen what Determination can do to Monsters. You know more about that stuff and souls than anyone. You're the only one who can save Undyne." Chara met Alphys's gaze. "Can you do it?"

"I… I…"

"Can you do it?"

Something in Alphys seemed to change. Her eyes hardened, her back straightened, and she clenched her hands into fists. She didn't even reply to Chara's question, she just turned and ran to a large oblong crate at the back of the room. She opened it, then began muttering to herself as she rummaged through it.

Sans looked at Chara before the girl sagged against him, feeling drained even just from that short conversation. She wasn't sure how she was going to deal with…

"Well, you've certainly got a way with words, don't you?"

Chara gave a tiny shrug.

"So, when you told your mom you'd tell her everything…"

The girl groaned.

"I don't really have much choice, do I? I can't pretend to be Frisk, and they'll figure it out sooner or later. Listen… I'm gonna need a minute. Could you get Mettaton, Papyrus and… Dad all to Toriel's place? Then come get me. And I'll… I'll…"

Sans just nodded. He brought Chara out to the hallway and let her down to sit with her back to the wall before he gave her an exaggerated wink and disappeared.

"Wonder what that was about." Chara wondered. "Probably some dumb joke only he'd laugh at anyway. Heh."

She let her head fall back until it connected with the smooth wall behind her. She could hear whirring noises coming from behind the mostly shut door leading into Alphys's private lab. The small lizard Monster was already hard at work. Chara gave a little smile. Most Monsters might not have Determination, but they could be pretty determined when they really set their minds to it.

Her smile disappeared. How was she supposed to break the news? Frisk was gone, probably dead, and in his place was her, a formerly genocidal maniac who also happened to be Asgore and Toriel's adopted daughter. In Frisk's body.

It was simultaneously too long and not long enough before Sans returned. He didn't say anything, gave no inclination as to what the others had said. He just reached out a hand, and after a moment, she grabbed it, pulling herself to her feet and then closing her eyes as the sensation of Sans's shortcut washed over her again.

 

Chara stood in the kitchen, her hands clenching and unclenching sporadically as she tried to control her breathing. Not even the familiar smells of baking that still lingered in the air could calm her. They were right there, right in the next room. Sans had done as she asked, she just had to go into the living room and…

And face them all. And she didn't have Frisk or his Determination to back her up. As soon as she entered that room, she wouldn't be able to hide anymore. She would have to look her parents in the eye… and tell them who she was.

She could still run. She could leave right now and never have to face them again. But… that wasn't true was it? They'd find her eventually. And even if she did run, where would she go? Despite everything she had been through, she was still technically a child. A child in a borrowed body at that.

No. She had to face them. They were waiting for her, even if they didn't know it. She took a deep breath, and walked into the living room.

The Monsters in the room turned at the sound of her soft footfalls. Asgore, Toriel and Sans were all sitting on the couch facing her, while Papyrus and Mettaton each had commandeered one of the large reading chairs, which had been rotated so that they were facing the same way. Chara tried to keep her hands from shaking as everyone looked at her.

Of course, Papyrus was the first to speak.

"Frisk! It is good to see you up again! You had the great Papyrus worried after napping for so long! I fear you've been spending too much time around my lazybones brother!" Papyrus paused and squinted at Chara. "Erm, Frisk? Your eyes are red again. Is that a Human thing?"

Toriel looked like she wanted to get up, but cast a nervous glance at Sans before she did so and the skeleton shook his head. Chara wondered what he had said to her to keep her seated there.

"Are you alright, my child? You got up so suddenly after being in bed for so long. Whatever you have to say can wait until you're better."

"No, Mom." Chara managed. "This can't wait, I have something very important to tell you."

Asgore shifted uncomfortably. "Yes… Sans said as much. Take your time, Frisk. We are listening.

"I'm not Frisk."

Chara threw up a hand to forestall the exclamation that she knew was coming from Papyrus. She looked down, unable to bear the gazes upon her any longer.

"Just… let me finish. This is… already hard." She gathered her courage for a moment before continuing.

"You've wondered how Frisk has managed to accomplish so much despite being so young? Well, other than his Determination, it's because he has two souls."

"I… don't understand." Papyrus said, a confused expression on his skull.

Chara risked a glance up through her bangs. Sans was still watching her intently from behind half-closed sockets. Asgore was fidgeting even more than before and both he and Toriel looked like they wanted to speak, but they were holding back. Mettaton had only raised one of his eyebrows.

"It's like… we're two people in one body. Frisk is usually in control, and he's the one you know… your friend. And then there's me. You've only seen me a few times, but… When we fought The Defiler, something happened to Frisk. I don't know what happened, but I can't feel him in my head anymore." Chara felt tears begin to pool in her eyes.

"Are.. you the one who fought off the shadow magic when it attacked me?" Toriel asked quietly. Chara nodded.

"So then, if you're not Frisk..." Asgore said, finally voicing the question the young girl had been dreading. "Who are you?"

She had to be strong. She had to say it. Why was this so hard? Damn Frisk, he'd made her care again. Shouldn't she have learned her lesson by now?

"My name is… Chara." The last word left her lips in a whisper. She couldn't look her parents in the eye.

"Chara! That name sounds vaguely familiar… But no matter! I am the great Papyrus! And I would like to be your friend!"

The girl's lips twitched into a smile for a second before the shocked gasps of the two Boss Monsters registered.

"Child…" Toriel asked, her voice unsteady. "Where did you hear that name?"

"From my… well, from the people who named me, and from you, from dad, and… Asriel." The tears began to run down her face at the mention of her brother.

"How... how is this possible?" Asgore breathed.

"After Asriel died, my soul was released. But I... I didn't want to go. I was so… so angry, and I wasn't ready to leave. So I stayed. I stayed looking for some way I could rejoin the world. And finally, I found Frisk. His Determination is so great, it allowed him to house me with very little trouble. So I came back."

"So you've been here this whole time?" Mettaton questioned, the glamorous robot's voice more toned-down and serious than Chara had ever heard him before. Apparently, the gravity of the situation had not gone unnoticed even by him.

"Yeah."

"I'm still confused." Papyrus spoke up. "If you're not Frisk, where is he?"

"I don't know, Papyrus." Chara said in a soft voice. "I don't-"

Her voice was cut off in a soft gasp as she felt large, warm arms wrap about her and pull her tight. Her eyes opened in surprise, and all she could see was the front of her mother's robe, all she could feel was her mother's embrace. The woman was shaking slightly as she held the girl.

"My daughter." She whispered. "My precious girl, you-" She halted, unable to continue and she squeezed Chara all the tighter.

From behind, Chara felt another warm prescence, and soon she was trapped between both her parents, each of them holding her as close to them as they could. The tears, which had stopped briefly before, now flooded down Chara's face with renewed vigour, and she was joined by her parents above her, both of them sobbing and whispering to her in disbelief.

After a few moments, Chara could make out Papyrus's voice from somewhere beyond the comforting wall of fur surrounding her.

"Sans? What are you doing?"

"Just leave them be for a bit, bro."

"But Sans, there is a group hug that is just crying out for the involvement of the great Papyrus! Would you deny them my warm, cuddly embrace?"

"Just… trust me on this one, bro. I'm sure you'll get plenty of chances for hugs in the future."

"But Saaaans!" Papyrus whined.

"Listen to your brother, darling." Mettaton voiced gently. "They need this more than we do."

Papyrus gave a melodramatic sigh that Chara was sure Mettaton would be proud of.

"Oh, very well. But the great Papyrus will demand recompense hugs later! Nyeh-heh-heh!"

At last, Toriel pulled away, though Asgore still seemed unwilling to let go. Not that Chara minded, she hadn't had to say anything more with the two holding her, and despite feeling unworthy of it, it had been hard to deny the outpouring of love from her parents. She looked pleadingly at Toriel, but the woman was already turning away to where Sans was still seated on the couch.

Toriel's hands clenched and unclenched, and Chara could well imagine the look she was giving Sans now. She noted with a start that small flames were starting to flicker at her mother's fingertips.

"You knew about this all along, didn't you." It wasn't a question, and Toriel's voice trembled with anger. "You knew that my daughter was there and you said nothing? You were supposed to be-"

"No, Mom!" Chara cried out, stopping Toriel mid-sentence. "It's not his fault! I didn't want him to tell you about me!"

"Chara?" Asgore questioned gently while Toriel turned back to her, a confused and slightly hurt expression on her face.

"After our plan failed I was… I was so angry. When I met Frisk, I just wanted to destroy everything. If it wasn't for Frisk and Sans… I would have. I didn't want you to see me like that."

She hung her head.

"I don't… I don't deserve-"

Toriel crouched down before her and cupped her chin, raising her head so that she was forced to look into her mother's eyes.

"Chara." And her voice was so warm and tender and loving that it almost made the girl break down again. "No matter what, I… we... will always love you."

Chara let out a strangled cry and reached out her arms to Toriel, who returned to her embrace. Once again pillowed between her parents, she clenched her mother's soft robe in her fist and sobbed into her shoulder.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The words became a mantra, repeated over and over again while Toriel and Asgore soothed her. When she calmed down again, both her parents pulled back slightly, more to give her room to breathe than anything else.

"Chara, darling." Mettaton said, looking at the scene with a small smile on his face. "If you don't mind me asking you something?"

The girl shook her head.

"If I heard right, and let me tell you, darling, these ears hear everything right, you said something about a plan that failed. What plan would that be?"

Chara froze. Her face contorted with regret and fear. What would they think? What would they say? How could she-

"You don't have to talk about it." Asgore rumbled comfortingly.

"You've already gone through so much." Toriel added. "Whatever it is, it can wait."

Chara was comforted by her parents support, and gave a little smile. She looked around at the Monsters in the room, from her parents loving, gentle gaze, to Mettaton's curious face, to Papyrus sulking over in the corner but still glancing their way every few seconds, to Sans calmly watching him from behind half-closed sockets. She finally let the exhaustion she had been holding back sweep over her and she leaned into her mother.

"Thank you." she murmured, her eyelids growing heavy and slowly closing of their own accord. Toriel began running her claws through Chara's hair, and Asgore began humming a familiar tune, lulling the girl to the most peaceful sleep she'd known in lifetimes.

 

Asgore carried the sleeping child to bed, Toriel hovering close at hand. Their eyes met and Asgore whispered,

"Tori… are you all right? We've got her back…"

Toriel blinked rapidly.

"But we lost Frisk."


	10. Take that, stupid lights!

There was darkness. And _pain_. Still, it was better than it had been. Pain could be dealt with. Pain could be ignored, shoved to the side until it was needed. Not like the utter soul-wrenching, mind-devouring _agony_ there had been before that.

It might just be the imagination, but even the pain seemed to be lessening as time went by. If time still held any real meaning. The only constants were the darkness. And the pain.

It was unclear how long she… She? He? They? No, she felt right. It felt good, strong even. How long she had been here, wherever here was. Minutes? Days? An eternity?

She couldn't really remember anything from before the blackness. Maybe the agony from before had scoured away what had been. She vaguely remembered having a name, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember it. She was sure it was important, but it just kept slipping away from her before she could grasp it.

She didn't even notice the pain beginning to fade away until it was completely gone, leaving her alone in the black. Without the pain to distract her, she quickly found herself growing bored. Though now, she was able to recognize other sensations. Her back was pressed against a soft, plush surface and cool air danced across her body. There was something heavy clamped onto her left forearm. And there was the quiet of sound of… snoring?

This darkness needed to go, she decided. After considering for some time, it occurred to her that perhaps opening her eyes might help. She mulled it over for a while before deciding it was probably worth a shot.

It took a lot more effort than she was sure it should have to begin raising her eyelid. Eyelid. Singular. That's right, she had lost the other eye, though she didn't remember how or when. It didn't matter, it just meant she could put more effort into opening the one.

The second she did manage to crack open her eye, however, bright white light poured in, causing her to hiss in pain and quickly close it again. Damn, that was bright! Maybe it would be better to just stay in the darkness…

No. She was a warrior, dammit! She wasn't gonna be beaten by some little bright light! She was gonna show that thing who was boss!

...Where did that come from? Is that what she was like? She decided that she liked it. With that energy fueling her, she gritted her fangs and attempted opening her eye again.

This time, she didn't back down, and managed to get her eye the whole way open, and adjust to the brightness of the room. She crowed inwardly at her success.

_Yeah! Take that, stupid lights!_

Her vision seemed a bit blurrier than it should be, but she still cast about the room in an attempt to figure out her surroundings. She was lying on a bed just big enough for her, with pillows supporting her neck and back. There were several large machines on her right side, making quiet beeping sounds and flashing intermittently with various colored lights. Turning her head to the other side, she was met by a far more pleasant sight.

Sitting on a comfortable, high-backed chair, was a very familiar looking yellow reptile. She was wearing a dirty lab coat with the top three buttons undone, just revealing the top of a white shirt underneath. She was leaning back against the chair, her head craned back so the the top of her head touched the backrest. Her mouth hung open slightly and she was making adorable little twitches as she slept.

A wave of emotion coursed over the one-eyed woman and she found herself smiling at the sight. A name surfaced in her mind. Alphys. Bits and pieces of fragmented memories began to make themselves known, but before she could grab a hold of them, she was distracted by a sudden vibration coming from her left forearm.

She glared down at the offending limb, and saw a metal box that had apparently been built around her arm, just above the elbow. A short, thick tube extended from the far side of the box touching back down just below her wrist, and sinking into her flesh. A few lights were flashing on the box, and already she was getting irritated with the thing. That hadn't been there before, had it?

She tried to raise her arm to get a better look at the thing, but, like her eyelid, it was a lot more difficult to raise then she had remembered it being. She narrowed her eye at the thing. She wasn't going to be beaten by her own body, that was for damn sure.

Unfortunately, her arm proved far more difficult to raise, she was almost beginning to sweat from the exertion. But she refused to give up. Even though she didn't appear to be making much progress, the box suddenly began beeping. Not very loudly, but if looks could kill, then the box would be across the room and in so many pieces that it would never have a hope of being repaired again.

As if in response to the sudden beeping, there was a snort from her left, though she didn't look over, still Determined to raise her arm. There was a loud yawn, and suddenly yellow hands were on the box, pulling her arm slightly to the side.

Startled, she looked over, and she saw Alphys staring blearily at the box that completely surrounded her forearm. The reptile pushed her glasses into a more comfortable position on her snout and then frowned, tapping the box with a claw.

"Hey, nerd."

The words sounded hoarse, like she hadn't used her voice in a long time. Alphys froze at the sound, and let the box and arm fall back onto the bed.

"U-Undyne?"

Undyne. That was her name. How could she have forgotten that? She smiled at Alphys. This time when she spoke, her voice was stronger.

"You can't get rid of me that easily."

One minute Alphys was standing there, staring at her, the next, Undyne was nearly squashed as the reptile hurled herself onto the bed.

"Y-you're alright!" She sobbed, wrapping her arms around the warrior. "I was s-so scared that you… that you…"

Undyne ignored the crushing sensation and slowly raised her non-encased arm, finding it a lot easier to lift since it didn't have the extra weight holding it down. She brought it up and wrapped it as tightly as she could muster around the scientist, returning her embrace as best she could.

"Hey, don't cry. I'm alright, see?"

After a few moments Alphys pulled back slipping off the bed though she seemed unwilling to remove her hands from Undyne, one of them lightly stroking her left arm while the other tangled itself in her unbound hair that spread over the pillows she lay on.

Undyne studied Alphys with concern.

"What about you? Are you alright? You don't look like you've been sleeping well. I keep telling you you can't survive off energy drinks forever, you do need actual sleep."

Alphys gave Undyne a startled look, then let out an incredulous giggle.

"Y-you took a… a blast of magic for me, and I'm the one you're worried about?" Alphys's shoulders drooped and she looked down at the ground. "I almost got you killed. If it wasn't for.. for me, you wouldn't have… you wouldn't have…"

Undyne reached over and grabbed Alphys by the cheeks, forcing her to meet her gaze, a serious look on her face.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Alphy. I saved you, you saved me. Far as I'm concerned, that makes us even. Ya got that?"

Alphys stared wide-eyed at Undyne for a moment, before giving a tiny nod. Upon that victory, Undyne's serious face melted away and she gave a big grin, then leaned forward and planted a kiss at the tip of the scientist's snout.

Alphys immediately turned a beet red and began to sputter, looking away nervously. Undyne was grateful for that, because it hid how quickly she fell back down on to the bed even after such little exertion. One thing was for sure: she didn't like feeling so weak.

Alphys regained her composure fairly quickly , at least in comparison of how she used to be. A memory surfaced in Undyne's mind, recalling when she had first kissed the reptile. It had been a chaste kiss, just on the cheek, but not only had Alphys's entire body gone red, but she had immediately passed out afterwards.

"I'm glad you're awake now." Alphys said quietly. "I missed you."

"So did I."

Alphys hung her head at that.

"I… I know. It was stupid, I shouldn't h-have spent so much time at work. I j-just wanted-"

"Hey." Undyne cut her off. "Quit doing that, you're giving me mixed messages here."

Alphys looked at her in confusion. Undyne just grinned.

"It's my job to beat on people who beat on my _girlfriend_." Her emphasis of the word was rewarded by another adorable blush. "When that person is you, it confuses me, so quit it, alright? Anyway, it was totally worth it to see you in that thing, kicking ass with the rest of us!"

Alphys gave a small smile, and the look she gave Undyne told her all she needed to know.

"Thank you." she whispered.

Undyne just grinned in response. That grin quickly turned to a frown however, when the box on her arm vibrated again. She turned to glare at the thing, raising her free arm and fully intending to smash it.

"Okay, I've just about had it with this-"

"W-wait!"

Undyne paused and shot a quizzical look at Alphys.

"D-don't break it! That's the only thing keeping you alive!"

Undyne slowly lowered her arm.

"Huh?"

Alphys gave a quick rundown on Determination and its effect on Monsters, as well as Undyne's unique ability to produce it naturally. The fish-woman could tell that her lover was holding back on giving lengthy, detailed descriptions, so it must be important, and she tried to follow along as best she could.

"Because of how dangerous it is, I don't think it would ever reveal itself unless you were in great danger, but when you were hit by that blast, it started fluctuating wildly within you. It was the only thing keeping you alive, but it was also killing you.

"Fortunately, I've worked with Determination before, and I was able to make this." She gestured to the box. "I-it's still just a prototype, b-but I've already thought of some ways to improve it later."

"Alright, but what exactly does this thing do?"

"It's a Determination Recycler. It moderates and regulates the flow of Determination throughout your body, and keeps it at a safe level. I don't know if it'll settle down eventually, but right now, if you don't have it, you'll probably begin to melt almost immediately." Alphys looked away.

"By the time I managed to get the machine working, you were starting to melt far worse than I had seen before. Any later and…"

Undyne was slightly shocked to hear how close she had been to death, but she put on a smile for Alphys.

"Hey, what'd I say about mixed messages, huh? I'm here, and you saved me. Everything's gonna be fine."

"Of course it is, darlings."

Both Alphys and Undyne looked towards the sound of the voice, and there was Mettaton, striding confidently into the room, a panel in the glass wall behind him sliding shut as he did so. He put one hand on his hip and took a condescending stance, one eyebrow raised at the prone fish-warrior.

"You know, darling, I understand the importance of beauty sleep, but you've taken it a bit far, don't you think?"

"I didn't see you out there fighting that Defiler guy." Undyne snapped.

To her surprise, Mettaton's face morphed into an expression of regret.

"You're right. As soon as I heard about the attacks, I cancelled my tour and rushed back. I was too late, I'm afraid."

Undyne looked over at Alphys, who nodded. Undyne had never really gotten along with Mettaton, but she knew how the robot lived for his tours. The fact that he would even consider cancelling, much less go through with it, was a significant sacrifice for him.

"Anyway!" Mettaton said, brightening. "Everyone will be very glad to see you're awake. You've been worrying us, darling. Our little Alphys here has hardly slept in over a week!"

Undyne frowned.

"Over a week? I've been asleep for that long?"

Alphys nodded.

"Well, it's very fortuitous that you woke up now, Undyne. I was going to fill Alphys in on what happened the other day, but I'm sure you'll want to hear it too."

"What is it, Mettaton?" Alphys asked.

"Well, darling, fortunately you outfitted me with a recorder. I put that to good use yesterday. It certainly saves me the trouble of having to recount everything…"

The glamorous robot closed his eyes, and snapped his fingers, and voices, sounding familiar though slightly synthesized, began to play from his chest. The first voice belonged to Papyrus.

"Frisk! It is good to see you up again! You had the great Papyrus worried after napping for so long! I fear you've been spending too much time around my lazybones brother!" The pair listened intently as the events of the previous day were replayed.

 

"Here, let me take her." Asgore's voice was soft, and the two women listening to the recording heard slight rustling, followed by soft footfalls heading away. Mettaton opened his eyes, a sad smile on his face and the sound from his chest faded.

Alphys's hands had raised to her face and her eyes were shining with unshed tears. Undyne was trying to keep her own emotions in check while she tried to process what she just heard.

"So there you have it, darlings." Metatton's voice was more subdued than usual.

"S-so… is Frisk…?"

Mettaton gave an uncomfortable shrug.

"I don't know. Sans seemed to think there was a chance that you might be able to figure it out, though it'll be some time before Toriel and Asgore can let Chara out of their sight. Papyrus, bless his soul, is convinced that Frisk is fine. Not to mention being ecstatic about the opportunity to make a new friend."

"Frisk doesn't go down easily, and he sure as hell never gives up." Undyne said with slightly forced enthusiasm. "Just you watch, he'll be up and about in no time."

"Of course he will!"

A familiar, very enthusiastic voice all but echoed around the room, and Papyrus walked in, strutting proudly. Sans was following just behind him, mimicking the taller skeleton's strides.

"Frisk has merely been infected by my lackadaisical brother. Do not worry, though! I, the great Papyrus, have taken charge of the situation. Sans has been grounded until further notice, so he cannot infect my beloved friends with his lazybones ways!"

"Sup, bro?"

"Sans! I told you you were grounded!"

"And here I am, standing on the ground."

"Aargh!"

"Papyrus? What are you doing here?" Undyne asked.

"Mettaton texted me, of course!" The skeleton puffed out his ribcage.

Undyne gave the robot a look, which apparently had no effect other than causing Mettaton to grin.

"Well, when I walked in and saw the two of you having your little… moment, I took the time to let everyone know you'd woken up! You might want to brace yourself, darling, you're going to have your hands full with well-wishers soon enough. You know, most of the city considers you a hero now."

"And they're right!" Papyrus enthused before Undyne had a chance to say anything. "I don't understand what everyone was so worried about: everyone knows that Undyne is unbeatable!" The skeleton paused. "Except for that one time with Frisk. And the other time Frisk beat her. And the-"

"I think she gets the point, darling." Mettaton said, amusement evident in his voice.

"I dunno, it doesn't look like she's got any of her spears to me."

"Sans!"

"Hey, guys?" Undyne asked, drawing the group's attention back to her. "You've all seen Chara, what's she like?"

"She seems like a very sensitive person who likes hugs!" Papyrus replied. "She was crying almost the entire time we spoke with her. Of course, she would have felt better with one of my signature hugs, but someone," He glared at Sans. "Wouldn't let me."

"Bro, you know the power of your hugs. She'd had a real long day; I wasn't sure if she could handle all of your coolness just then. Better to wait until she's really prepared for it, right?"

"Hmm, I hadn't thought of that! Truly, sometimes being as awesome as me can come with terrible burdens. But I must remain strong! I'm sure her hug capacity will reach one hundred percent soon enough, and I, the great Papyrus, will be there with open arms!"

"I'm sure you will, Paps." Sans turned his attention to Undyne. "She's been through a lot, but despite that, she's trying. Gotta give her credit for that."

"Wait." Alphys spoke up. "S-sans, in the recording, Toriel said that you knew about Chara already?"

"That reminds me!" Undyne trained her eye on Sans, practically daring him to try and look away. "What the hell, Sans!? You've been holding out on me! When did you get that strong?"

"I don't know what you-"

"Don't give me that crap! We all saw you in the fight, you were pulling out moves that I'd never seen before, and those dog-skulls were so cool! I could _feel_ the power coming off those things!" Undyne suddenly remembered that she was supposed to be angry at Sans and scowled.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Sans gave a shrug.

"I never needed to before. Anyways, I'm too lazy to be in the spotlight, remember? You fit it way better."

"I must admit, I was impressed, Sans!" Papyrus jumped in, apparently oblivious to Undyne's anger. "It seems you took all my training advice to heart!"

"Well, how could I resist someone as cool as you?"

"You can't! Nyeh-heh-heh!"

Undyne opened her mouth to yell at Sans again, but stopped short at the feeling of a small hand on hers. She looked over, surprised, to see Alphys looking straight at her, one hand covering her own. She gave a tiny shake of her head, her eyes pleading with the warrior not to push it.

Undyne growled in frustration, but she relented. She did send another glare at Sans though.

"Fine, keep your secrets. But this isn't over yet, Sans."

"Do you think Toriel and Asgore will come?" Mettaton asked, deftly taking the subject away from the small skeleton's surprising power.

"I doubt it." Sans replied. "Chara's still not fully recovered, and she's been in bed pretty much ever since she told everyone who she was. They'll probably come later, once Chara's doing better. Neither of them want to leave her right now."

Alphys tapped a claw against the side of Undyne's bed.

"Maybe when she's better, I can see if I can find out what happened to Frisk? I think I have a Soul Scanner around here somewhere…" The reptile was lost in thought now, gazing around the room, seemingly oblivious to the other occupants.

"Why on earth would you have made one of those in the first place?" Mettaton questioned.

"W-well," Alphys stuttered, broken out of her reverie. "Umm, it was uh, left over from when I was testing Human Souls? To see how much weaker they were? Uh, it would need some modifications, but I think.. I think I can make it so we can use it to figure out what happened to Frisk and get him back."

"See, brother!" Papyrus enthused. "I told you the great Doctor Alphys would have something! Frisk will be back in no time!"

"Guess you were right again, bro. Once again you're _a-skull_ of the game."

"That's it!"

As Papyrus began chasing his brother around the room, Sans somehow always staying just out of his reach, Undyne couldn't help the smile that slowly overtook her face. She didn't even want to stop it. It felt so good to have everyone here, around her again. She would shake off this feeling of weakness and be back up to full strength in no time. Undyne was back in action!


	11. It couldn't be

Days passed. As Undyne recovered, Chara went to Alphys, asking if she had a way to find Frisk's soul. The scientist did what she could, but she could find no trace of a second soul within her. Despite Alphys's assurances that this technology was crude at best, Chara, as well as most of Frisk's friends, took it to mean that the boy was no longer with them. Except…

Except for Papyrus, whose unyielding optimism and enthusiasm encouraged the others somewhat. He was absolutely certain that Frisk was not dead, and was, in fact, simply "Pulling a Sans" as he phrased it. He berated Sans for a week afterwards, saying this was proof that he was a bad influence on the boy.

Chara had some difficulty integrating with Frisk's friends. She didn't dare call them her own. At least, not anyone other than Papyrus, who would be heartbroken if she didn't. She spent most of her time with her parents, at least for the first few days. It was still hard, though. Both Asgore and Toriel were simultaneously overjoyed that she had returned to them, and grieving the loss of Frisk. Chara still wasn't sure she deserved their immediate acceptance of her, but she was grateful for it regardless.

 

Days turned to weeks.

School started again, and at Toriel's insistence, Chara enrolled in the seventh grade. She was very quick to establish herself as Chara, not Frisk, and those who knew Frisk quickly agreed with her assessment. She was very smart, and breezed through the lessons and assignments she was given. But she was easily irritated and fairly short-tempered. What bullies the school had very quickly learned not to mess with her, as she had no problem repaying them tenfold.

Not only that, but she would immediately come to the defense of any Monster child who happened to be picked on or otherwise harassed. After a few "demonstrations" the school became a lot safer for Monsters, though most of the Human children now referred to her by the moniker "Demon Child".

Though they appreciated what she did for them, even the Monsters feared her, keeping a respectable distance from her. She didn't mind; she wasn't there to make friends.

Of course, there was one person who seemed immune to the fear that just about everyone else in the school shared for her. After noticing that she generally spent her lunches sitting on a cinder block at the far side of the school grounds, Kid decided that she needed company. So, one day the armless reptilian Monster just plonked himself down next to Chara and started talking.

While she was irritated at first, she quickly grew to grudgingly enjoy the half hour every day spent with the boy. She rarely said much, but he was content to chatter away at her, and she appreciated the company. The only other person that she could even think of calling a friend was Undyne.

Once the fish-warrior had recovered from her ordeal, Chara had asked to train with her. After her soul had taken so much damage fighting The Defiler, her newfound powers were far weaker than they had been during the battle. Plus she wanted the opportunity to work out some stress.

Undyne agreed, rather enthusiastically. But very soon, Chara wasn't the only one of them trying to train herself. She mentioned to Undyne that the warrior had the capability to achieve a second, far more powerful form. Once Undyne had stopped screaming about some anime that Chara didn't particularly know or care about, she settled down long enough for the girl to explain what she knew of the power behind her transformation.

Between Undyne working herself as hard as she could to attain this form, and Alphys making improvements to the Determination Recycler, it wasn't long until Undyne was able to call upon her Undying form. She could not maintain it for long, only for a few minutes before she had to revert; before she began melting. But they kept at it, and with continuous practice, Undyne was certain that she would be able to sustain the form for longer.

 

Weeks turned to months.

After discussing it, Toriel and Chara visited the orphanage that Frisk had come from before climbing Mt. Ebott. It was a bit of a trip since it was in a city on the other side of the mountain, but since Toriel had officially gotten her driver's license, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

On the way there, Chara had learned that Toriel had been working on a way to legally adopt Frisk almost since they had first emerged from the Underground. She had been planning to surprise Frisk with it before The Defiler attacked. Though Chara technically wasn't Frisk, she agreed to go through with the adoption idea regardless, stating that it would be a nice surprise for him if he ever came back.

The only one who still expected that Frisk would return to them was Papyrus. Frisk's continued absence hit Chara especially hard, and she grew more reclusive and short tempered. She rarely spent time with anyone other than Kid, Undyne and her parents. She couldn't even be bothered to feel happy as a spark was re-kindled between Toriel and Asgore, her father spending more and more time at their house.

The only thing she truly enjoyed was her continued spars with Undyne, which she did whenever she could. Her magic had returned to the same level as when she used it on the Defiler, and she could now usually beat Undyne in her normal form.

But, Undyne had been training hard as well, and not only was she stronger than before, she could now sustain her Undying form for nearly an hour. Chara was Determined to get to the point where she could fight Undyne the Undying on equal terms, her knives against the warrior's spears. But so far she had been unable to even get close to doing so.

It was harder to fight Undyne when she actually remembered and learned from Chara's attacks, as well as the fact that they were not actually trying to kill each other.

However, her training had not gone unnoticed, and Chara found herself forced into a political role when Humans discovered that she had magic.

She hadn't been subtle with the use of her power, and there were people who regularly came and watched her training spars with Undyne. Of course, the idea that there was a Human that could use magic excited people greatly.

She wasn't technically Human of course, but she was unsure how to explain the semantics to them when she herself was fuzzy on the details.

As Chara's popularity grew, she was invited to a few Monster-Human relation meetings. However, when she was trotted out as a 'magic human poster child', she quickly learned that she was very good at beating smug politicians and condescending reporters at their own game. Very soon, she was twisting Anti-Monster activists' words against them and making people who had been involved in politics for years look like complete fools.

Even better, she enjoyed it. There was nothing quite as satisfying as beating them at their own game, and it was even better when they didn't realize it themselves.

Despite the few things she enjoyed, however, Chara only became more and more withdrawn. She knew her parents were worried about her, but she didn't know how to prevent that. It was hard not to feel despair clawing at her from within. She still couldn't help but feel empty.

And she never did get the hang of peeing standing up.

 

On a cold day in late January, Chara sat at the edge of the roof of her school building. Her last class had finished almost an hour ago, but she couldn't bring herself to go home. She knew what would happen when she got there. Both her parents would ask her why she took so long, and tell her that they would listen to anything she had to say. Asgore would make her a cup of hot chocolate while Toriel would ask her about her day.

Then she'd go to her room and lie on the bed staring at the ceiling until dinner. Undyne was busy for the next couple of days with her work, so there wouldn't be any training sessions for a while. Nothing really to look forward to unless one of the bullies she was keeping an eye on decided to do something stupid. Even then, they didn't last long, even without using her magic.

It started to snow, flakes falling down like someone had turned on a massive paper shredder in the clouds. Chara was surprised at how quickly the snow picked up. Maybe it was trying to make up for the lack of snow thus far; there had only been one or two major dumps this year.

There was a swooshing sound , and Chara didn't have to look around to know that Sans was standing behind her now. Toriel usually called him to go find her when she was late from school.

"Your parents are worried about you, you know."

"I know." Chara replied dully.

Sans walked around and sat down beside her.

"It's not just you being late home all the time, you says you've been barely eating for the past couple days, and you barely speak to anyone anymore."

"Just eight days to go."

"Eight days till what?"

"His birthday."

There was silence from the skeleton. After a moment, Chara continued.

"He never really saw it as a big deal. Apparently they didn't really celebrate birthdays where he came from. I only found out about it by accident." She gave a bitter smile. "Not that it matters now, does it?"

"Well, I guess that explains why you've been extra broody lately." Sans sighed. "Look, Chara. We all miss Frisk. But think about your parents. He was like a son to them, especially Tori. But now, they miss you almost as much."

Chara turned to face Sans, a questioning look on her face.

"You came back, but now it's like that was a cruel joke. And not the whoopee-cushion kind, either. It's like they're losing you again, but to yourself this time."

"This isn't my world, Sans. It was his. If it wasn't for him, I would have no idea how anything works up here. I fell down into the Underground centuries ago, and so much has changed since then. I don't belong here."

Sans rubbed his forehead.

"Look, believe it or not, I actually have an idea of what you're living with. I get it. But things aren't gonna get better from you moping around all the time. Look, why don't you come visit me and Papyrus after school tomorrow? I think having him around might do you some good. For your parents sake, if nothing else."

Chara shrugged.

"I'll think about it."

"Guess that's all I can ask for." Sans stood up and reached out a hand. "Come on, let's get you back home."

Chara stood as well, but ignored the proffered hand, making a face as she did so.

"No thanks, It's not that far of a walk. I still need a bit."

Without waiting for a response from Sans, she turned around and walked towards the small hatch in the roof leading back down into the school, leaving the skeleton alone to watch her leave.

 

Chara trudged through the quickly rising snow. It was true that this school wasn't far from the Monster District, but she was taking a bit of detour, more to stall the inevitable than anything else. She gazed blankly at the quickly piling snow, avoiding thinking about anything in particular.

_Uurgh._

Chara stopped, instantly going into high alert. She scanned the street around her, but there wasn't anyone close by, and certainly no-one who would have made that groaning sound. Had it been her imagination?

_Chara?_ A familiar voice asked sleepily. _Since when do you wake up before me?_

It… it couldn't be… 

**Frisk?**

_It's cold, Chara._ The boy whined, his image materializing before her mind's eye for the first time since the battle. The image was more faded than she remembered and it flickered a few times but it was _there_. He rubbed sleepily at his eyes, then looked around in confusion. 

_Why's everything all white?_

**_Frisk!_** Chara shouted, both in her mind and out loud, causing what few people were around to give her strange looks. But she didn't care. 

**You're… you're back! You idiot! Do you have any idea how worried I was?! Where have you been!?**

Frisk looked confused. 

_Ch-Chara? What do you mean?_

The girl paused and closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. After a moment, she asked, 

**What's the last thing you remember, Frisk?**

The boy knit his brows in concentration. 

_Uhhh… It's kind of fuzzy…_ His head snapped up. _Wait! There was The Defiler! And he was trying to take your soul! And then…_

**You saved me, Frisk. You stopped him from taking me. But we thought you were dead!**

Frisk was silent for a moment. Then he said quietly; 

_I'm sorry…_

**Idiot.** But Chara could feel her eyes getting damp, and she knew Frisk knew it too. **What did Undyne tell you about taking long naps without telling anyone?**

Frisk gave a small smile. 

**So, do you have any idea what happened?** Chara prompted. 

Frisk shook his head. 

_All I remember is trying to stop The Defiler from taking you… then I woke up here._ He gave a little shrug. _Sorry._

**I guess that makes sense.** Chara concentrated for a moment, quickly confirming her suspicions. **Your soul is really weak right now. I didn't even notice you were back until you spoke. Maybe you were just unconscious?**

Frisk gave another helpless shrug. 

_I don't know._

Chara shook her head, allowing the relief at the boys return to wash over her again. It didn't matter where he had been, as long as he was back now. 

_Um… Chara?_

**Yeah?** The girl replied, starting to walk again. 

_How… how long was I gone?_

**Five months.** Chara's reply was blunt, but she immediately regretted it when she saw the look of shock and regret cross Frisk's face. Cursing herself, she tried to play it off. 

**Just like you to wake up in time for your birthday. I guess Papyrus was right. You _have_ been spending too much time around Sans.**

Chara was relieved to hear Frisk give a little giggle. God, it felt so good to have him back. She felt more whole than she had in months. She broke into a run, making a beeline for her home.

**Come on, Frisk! Mom and Dad are going to be so happy that you're back!**

_Wait, do they-_

**Know about me?** Chara guessed.

_...Yeah._

Chara skidded around a corner, slipping on the ice and bumping into an older man. She steadied herself against him then dashed off again before he had a chance to say anything.

**Yeah, I told them.**

_Oh._

Chara wasn't sure what else she could say to him, but she did let her elation at his return wash over the boy. Frisk, too, went silent, though she could feel his appreciation at her gesture. Chara got the feeling his reticence was more due to exhaustion than an actual desire to be quiet.

Focussing again within herself, she was privately alarmed at how weak Frisk's soul felt. It was as if it was clinging to their body by a hair. She didn't think that he would be able to take control of the body yet, and maybe not for some time.

She shoved such thoughts out of her mind, entering her neighborhood and tearing down the street to her house. Maybe he was weak for now, but he was back, and that was what really mattered!

A big grin split her face as she reached the door. She couldn't wait to see her parent's reaction to the news. She pulled the door open and burst into the warm house.

"Mom! Dad!" She called, kicking off her boots and shedding her jacket as quickly as she could.

"Chara, dear?" Toriel replied from the living room. "Are you alright? Sans said-"

Chara ran into the room, barely holding back from bouncing up and down in excitement. She was grateful to see that she had been right, and both her parents were sitting on the couch, or at least, they had been. Both of them were rising, concerned expressions mirrored on their faces.

"My child, are you-"

"I prepared some-"

"Frisk's back!" Chara shouted, cutting off both her parents. She was both unable and unwilling to keep the elation out of her voice. She threw herself at her startled mother, knocking her back down onto the couch with a surprised "oof!".

"Chara?" Asgore asked hesitantly. "Did you say…"

Chara looked up into her mother's startled face, her crimson eyes shining happily. She held onto her as hard as she could, her small arms barely making it around the Boss Monster's midriff.

"He's alive! He's weak… he's barely there, but… I can feel him, Mom!"

Toriel let out a strangled sound halfway between a sob and a gasp and clutched at Chara, pulling her in tightly. Behind her, Chara could feel Asgore's presence as he came in close, attempting a hug despite the awkward positioning. Frisk's soul pulsed with contentment and happiness at the attention of the two Monsters.

"Are... are you sure, Chara?" Toriel asked, almost fearfully. "Can… can we…?"

Chara's smile dimmed and she shook her head into her mother's chest.

"He's too weak right now. I don't know where he was, but-"

"I don't care." Toriel said firmly. "As long as he's back, as long as he's here, I don't care." She looked over at Asgore.

"Fluffybuns, could you fix some hot chocolate?" As the former King stood, reluctantly removing his arms from Chara, Toriel hesitated. "Does Frisk… I mean, will he-"

Toriel's grip had loosened slightly and Chara was able to maneuver herself so that she could look Toriel in the face. She felt a pang seeing her mother's tears, but it was quickly quelled with the knowledge that they were happy tears.

"He'll experience it as much as I will, Mom." Chara assured her.

Toriel gave a small smile.

"Frisk…" She said quietly. "I… We thought we'd lost you."

_I'm sorry, Mom._ Frisk replied, Chara relaying his words to Toriel.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Toriel brushed Chara's cheek with her hand, and both children relished the sensation. "I'm just glad you're back with us."

Agore quickly returned with the hot chocolate, and Chara gratefully accepted the mug, though she remained on her mother's lap to drink it. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the aroma of the warm drink. She didn't know what Asgore did differently, but whenever he made hot chocolate, it always smelled so much better than any other kind.

As she sipped away at the drink, both her and Frisk enjoying the taste. Her parents began asking a few questions that she and Frisk answered as best they could, and telling the boy about the things he had missed while he had been dormant.

By the time she finished the drink, they were spread across the couch, Asgore leaning against one armrest with Chara snuggled into his lap while Toriel sat upright in the middle of the couch, gently running her fingers through Chara's hair. They had stopped talking a while ago, and for now, they were content to just enjoy each other's presence.

Then, Chara realized something. And she couldn't help the smile that spread across her features.

"Mom, Dad. There's one more thing that Frisk didn't tell you."

"What's that, my girl?" Asgore rumbled.

Too late, Frisk realized what Chara was about to say.

_Wait, you're not going to-_

"It's Frisk's birthday next week."

_Chara!_ Frisk covered his face with his hands. As she had known he would.

Both her parents stilled, then their eyes brightened and they shared a look.

"Is it now?" Asgore said slowly, his tone hinting at mischief.

_Come on guys, it's not a big deal._ Frisk attempted.

**It _is_ a big deal, and they can't hear you.** Chara replied smugly.

"You know, Asgore," Toriel said conversationally. "Papyrus has a lot of space in his bar…"

Asgore nodded solemnly.

"Maybe he'd like to _present_ that to us for a birthday party."

Chara froze.

**Oh no…**

Toriel smiled.

"That is a good idea! And we can bring our friends _older_ to celebrate with us!"

Frisk let out a giggle. Chara rolled her eyes.

"You two are terrible!"


	12. No Longer Alone

"Here, human! I have cooked a plate of gourmet spaghetti for you! With this, you'll be feeling better in no time! Nyeh-heh-heh!"

Frisk smiled at Papyrus from his cocoon of blankets, wriggling an arm out so that he could reach the plate the tall skeleton placed on the coffee table before him. The last he remembered, Papyrus's cooking skills had evolved to edible, though they were still short of tasty. But the skeleton had been so excited to see Frisk again, the boy certainly couldn't turn him down.

"It was very brave of you to come and visit me like this!" Papyrus enthused, taking a seat on the couch next to Frisk. "Do not worry! I, the great Papyrus, will not allow my lazybones brother to affect my dear friend anymore than he already has!"

The skeleton brothers' house was an exact replica of their old home in Snowdin. Down to the last tiny detail, thanks to Papyrus's dedication to such things. It was still a bit of a mystery why they had set it up like this; most Mosters had built or bought new homes, not wanting to be reminded of the years spent in the Underground.

**You still okay there?** Chara asked as Frisk grabbed the provided fork and began to twirl the pasta around it. He could feel her presence at the forefront of his mind, ready to take over should he slip away or lose control.

_I think so._ He replied.

**Don't push yourself, you only woke up a couple days ago.** Chara admonished.

_Yes, Mom._

Frisk grinned triumphantly at Chara's image's face, brought the fork to his mouth, and took a quick bite.

It was his turn to be shocked. It was.. good. Maybe not the best he'd ever eaten, but it was tasty, and he could honestly look forward to the next bite.

"Well, Frisk? Is it not the most amazing thing you've ever eaten?"

Frisk gave an enthusiastic nod and proceeded to devour the rest of the plate like it was his last meal. Once again, the Monster food proved useful. He felt much better after eating Papyrus's dish.

"Wowie! You were so enthusiastic! I knew you must have missed my cooking while you were sleeping. Fret not, the great Papyrus will make you all the pasta you could ever wish for and more!"

"Watch out, he means it."

Frisk looked up to see Sans descending the stairs, dressed as always in his blue hoodie. He grinned down at Frisk.

"Good to see you up and about, buddy. You feelin' better?"

"Mmm-hmm!" Frisk gave a thumbs up then retracted his arm back into his blanket nest.

"Heh, really not a fan of the cold, are you? Lucky for you, when you came through Snowdin, you had Papyrus's puzzles to help _break the ice_."

"Sans, I want no involvement in your terrible puns!"

"Really? I thought you were _spine_ with it, but I _cold_ be wrong, _tibia_ honest."

Frisk laughed, distracting Papyrus before he could continue berating his brother. Then, the door burst open, and Undyne ran in, a panicked expression on her face.

"Undyne! What a-"

The fish lady ran right past Papyrus, and grabbed Sans, lifting him up till he was at face level with her.

"Sans! You've got to help me, I don't know what to do!" Her eye focused on Frisk and she released one hand's grip on the front of Sans's hoodie to wave at him.

"Frisk, is that you? Great, you helped last time, you can help me again, right? Come on, guys, I really need your help!"

"Whoa, slow down now." Sans raised his hands in a placating gesture. "How about you put me down, and we can all go sit on the couch while you tell us what the problem is, okay?"

Undyne stared at him for a moment, then let go of him, dropping him to the ground.

"Alright, alright. But hurry it up, this is important!"

"Papyrus, why don't you go fetch more of your spaghetti for our guest?" Sans called, sauntering over to the couch despite Undyne's frenzied attempts to get him to hurry up.

"No _trout_ she _fishes_ to talk to us as soon as possible, but she might need something to calm her down first."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here, Sans." Undyne grumbled. "I can still kick your ass!"

Papyrus was already standing.

"Brother, despite your terrible puns, you are absolutely correct! One plate of Papyrus's calming spaghetti coming right up!"

With that the tall skeleton dashed into the kitchen. Undyne opened her mouth to speak but Sans, who had now seated himself beside the curious and slightly worried Frisk, raised a hand.

"Spaghetti first, then talk."

"Sans, there's no time for-"

"Is someone dying?"

Undyne hesitated.

"Are the Humans attacking? Did The Defiler come back?"

Undyne gritted her fangs.

"No…"

"Then it can wait for spaghetti."

Undyne gave a huff, then walked to the other side of couch and sat down on the other side of Frisk. The boy could feel her vibrating next to him, and he hoped that Papyrus would come back quickly before she exploded.

**I wonder what's up with her?**

Fortunately, the tall skeleton was prompt, and very soon a wide-eyed Frisk was watching Undyne scarf down the last of the food.

_I've never seen anyone eat so fast before._ He murmured in awe.

**No kidding.** Chara grinned. **I think I've worked out what this is about… there's only one thing that makes her move that fast.**

_What is it?_

**How bout we let her tell you?**

"Feeling better now, Undyne?" Sans asked nonchalantly.

"Sure, whatever. Will you help me now?" Undyne groused.

"Whatever troubles you, we, as your friends, are more than happy to help you with it!" Papyrus crowed, striking up a heroic pose. Frisk just gave a thumbs up.

"Alright, nerds, here's the situation…"

 

"Are you ready, my child?" Toriel asked.

Frisk stood with his mother just outside Papyrus's pub and it's old-western saloon doors. The boy viewed it with slight trepidation. He really had no idea what was waiting for him inside.

Well, that was not entirely true. He knew that his friends and family had set up a birthday party for him. He just wasn't really sure what that meant. His birthday had never been a big deal to him.

Everyone paying so much attention to him... he liked it, but it also made him feel a little self-conscious. He looked up at his mother, and her loving smile filled him with Determination.

**Come on, Frisk. You don't want to keep everyone waiting, do you?**

The boy took a deep breath, then nodded. At his confirmation, Toriel reached down and grasped his hand, then led him into The Great Papyrus.

The place was empty, Papyrus had closed it up for the day to free up space for the celebration. Most of the smaller tables had been moved to the far side, with one large table set up in the middle of the room.

Before Frisk could focus on the contents of the table, most of his friends leapt up from behind the bar, distracting him; partly at his request, only those closest to him had been invited, he was already overwhelmed by all this as it was.

There was Papyrus, of course, once again dressed in his "cool dude" outfit, and yelling "Surprise!" even though he knew full well that Frisk knew about the party.

There was Sans, casually leaning against the bar and drinking deep from a ketchup bottle. He gave the boy a lazy thumbs up and a broad wink.

Undyne was cheering at him, with Alphys balanced precariously on her shoulders. The smaller Monster looked like she was barely able to keep from grabbing onto Undyne's fins in an effort to keep her balance, and her legs were wrapped so tightly around the fish-woman's neck, Frisk was surprised she could still breathe.

Mettaton, it appeared, had attached a couple of fireworks to his shoulders and he let them off, both of them flying to the ceiling and exploding into a brightly colored display. At Frisk's happy laugh, the glamorous robot grinned widely before posing dramatically.

At Chara's request, Kid was there too. After hearing how the boy had been a friend to her when she needed it most, Frisk had been more than willing to accommodate. The armless Monster had apparently taken a cue from Undyne and Alphys, for he sat astride Asgore's shoulders.

He didn't seem nearly as worried as Alphys was, though; he was even bouncing himself up and down as he waved his head back and forth at Frisk. Asgore didn't seem to mind, in fact, he had a giant goofy grin across his features.

"Happy Birthday, Frisk!" they all called out. Even Chara joined in, though her image looked a little embarrassed about doing so. Frisk had never felt so loved and accepted as he did in that moment. He clung to his mother's hand and gave a big smile to his friends… his family.

Undyne leapt over the bar, a terrified squeak emitting from the reptile atop her shoulders at the unexpected move. The warrior raised her arms to be in reach of Alphys, and she grabbed onto them to keep from falling.

"Well, what are we waiting for, punk? This is your big day, let's celebrate it!" Undyne winked at Frisk, and the boy had to stifle a giggle and gave a conspiratorial wink back. He couldn't wait for Undyne to put their plan into action.

"Undyne's right!" Papyrus exclaimed, following his former mentor's example and hopping over the bar with ease. "Let the party commence!"

Everyone began crowding out to where Toriel and Frisk stood, and the Boss Monster lifted Frisk up so that he could sit atop her shoulders, and he playfully wrapped his hands around her horns like he was behind the steering wheel of a vehicle.

"What do you wish to start with, Frisk?" She asked, gesturing to the table. "There's cake and presents, and I believe Mettaton has a performance prepared..."

"Oh, you'll want to save that one, darling." Mettaton spoke up, one hand on his hip and a smug look on his face. "Save the best for last, am I right?"

Frisk giggled. If everything went according to plan, that was exactly what they'd be doing.

**Well, Frisk?** Chara prompted.

Frisk looked over to the table. There was a small pile of presents stacked there, as well as a fairly large, white cake with two candles in it, one shaped like a one, the other as a three, signifying his new age. He knew for a fact that Toriel and Asgore had been up all night making it, though no-one had actually told him what kind of cake it was.

"Cake." He said firmly. Kid, not to far away and only slightly higher than him, let out a laugh.

"Yo, that's a great idea, Frisk! Hey, watch this!"

With that, the boy hurled himself backwards off of Asgore's shoulders. Before Frisk could even let out a yelp of surprise however, the boy was surrounded in a blue aura, then gently lowered to the ground.

"You should be more careful!" Papyrus chided. "If I, the great Papyrus, had not been here, you could have hurt yourself!" He patted the child on the head.

"Fortunately, I am always prepared for any troubles! Just be more careful, alright?"

Kid nodded vigorously, and Frisk could practically see the stars in the boy's eyes as Papyrus walked away.

Asgore, now free of his burden and assured that his charge was alright, went to the table and began cutting the cake. The Monsters lined up, each one grabbing a plate, and they were quickly all tearing into their food.

The cake was butterscotch and cinnamon. Frisk really shouldn't have been surprised, but it was very interesting noting the differences it had to the pie. Even though Toriel had sat down, he had yet to leave his mother's shoulders, and ate his more than generous slice of cake from his vantage point. He really felt like the king of the world from up here, a feeling that was only accentuated since Undyne had finally let the hapless lizard down.

After cake, Asgore gathered up the presents while Frisk finally clambered down from his mother's shoulders. The other Monsters circled around the boy while he took a moment to gaze wide-eyed at the amount of gifts before him. Honestly, he didn't really care what was in them, just the fact that he was on the receiving end of all this was more than enough for him. With that in mind, he didn't even look at the presents before selecting them, simply choosing one at random, then reading the name.

The first gift was from Mettaton, and the boy giggled to see a small, plushie made into the likeness of the glamorous robot. He gave a big smile and a thumbs up to the star, and Mettaton gave an over-exaggerated wink back at him.

"Now you'll always have me with you, even if I can't be there in person, darling." The dramatic robot blew Frisk a kiss.

"It's true, Frisk!" Papyrus supplied. "I have four of them at home!"

There was a wave of laughter from around the room, and Frisk reached for the next gift. This one was from Asgore, and it looked far different from the others, even from the outside.

Frisk quickly realized why however, as he unwrapped it to reveal a Bonsai tree, along with a small instruction pamphlet on how to take care of the miniaturized tree. He immediately put it down and ran over to Asgore, giving the Monster as big a hug as he could manage.

"If you ever need assistance with it, I would be more than happy to help you, Frisk."

The boy nodded enthusiastically, and after giving one more squeeze, he returned to his seat to resume his present picking.

Kid got him a pair of very comfortable high-quality shoes that Frisk immediately replaced his own with, and Undyne provided a swiss army knife. While Toriel checked the utility tool to make sure there weren't any miniature nunchucks or battleaxes hidden in it, Frisk unwrapped Alphys's gift. It was a box series of a variety of different anime, apparently the lizard had been unable to make up her mind on which one to get him. After promising her that he would watch through them with her soon, he moved on to Sans' gift.

When he unwrapped the plain brown packing paper, he was greeted with a cardboard box with the words "Pet Rock Assembly Kit" scrawled on it in red marker. The boy couldn't help a giggle when the contents were revealed as an assortment of rocks and four different colored markers.

"Trust me, these things make great pets. Plus they don't make so much of a mess."

Frisk shook his head at the skeleton, then grabbed Papyrus's gift. The taller skeleton was all but bouncing up and down with excitement when he saw Frisk begin opening the present.

When Frisk opened the box that the wrapping paper hid, he froze. He could barely believe what he saw. Slowly, his hand reached into the box and brushed against the soft red fabric within.

It was Papyrus's scarf.

"Human." Papyrus said, continuing even though Frisk didn't look up. "You were gone for a long time, and though I, the great Papyrus, always knew you would return, I missed you. So! In order to ward off the influences of my brother, and to increase your inherent coolness, I have gifted you with- Ooof!"

Frisk crashed into Papyrus, nearly knocking the skeleton over. His arms wrapped around Papyrus's rib cage almost as hard as his fingers clutched the scarf.

"Thank you." The boy whispered into Papyrus's earhole.

"Anything for my cool friend!" Papyrus enthused, returning the embrace. Slowly, Frisk let go of Papyrus, then wrapped the scarf about his neck. It was a little long, but he didn't care.

_I'm never taking this off._

**Good for you.**

Only one present remained, and Frisk carried it back to where he had been sitting with Toriel. It was her present to him, and upon opening it, he found it was a collection of books he had told her he enjoyed what felt like years ago now. He smiled at her, and gave her a warm hug of his own.

"Wait a minute." Asgore said.

Frisk turned to see him dramatically patting at his clothes, appearing to have forgotten something.

"I could have sworn I had a… here it is!"

He pulled an envelope from some hidden pocket and passed it over to Frisk.

"Asgore." Toriel chided. "You forgot that present?"

"I'm sorry, dear." The former king chuckled. "It must have slipped my mind."

Both of them were grinning, and it wasn't hard for Frisk to figure out that they had scripted this. But he was curious to see what was inside the envelope, so he focused on that, using the swiss army knife to open it.

There was a folded up piece of paper inside. The boy unfolded it, and began reading it. His eyes widened. Chara chuckled.

**And this is my gift to you.** She said. **Do you know how hard it was to set this up without letting you know what was going on? Fortunately, we got everything done while you were gone, I just had to give the parents the idea of showing it off at your party.**

The majority of the document was legal terms that Frisk didn't really understand, but he got the conclusion well enough. He looked at the front of the envelope and really focussed on it for the first time. It said Frisk, he'd figured that much when Asgore had handed it to him. But that wasn't all it said.

Frisk Dreemurr.

From what he had made of the document, he had been adopted… by Toriel. He raised disbelieving eyes to her. She was wearing a small smile and looking at him with pure motherly love.

"My son." She whispered.

Emotions overwhelmed Frisk and he threw himself at Toriel laughing and crying into her purple sweater. She embraced him, while he repeated "Mom" over and over again like a prayer.

Finally, he untangled himself from her and wiped his eyes dry.

"Is now okay?" Papyrus stage-whispered to Sans as the boy turned to face the group again.

"Yeah, should be alright."

"GROUP HUG!" Papyrus all but shrieked, and Frisk immediately found himself surrounded by his friends, all of them laughing and cheering him on.

When the hug finally ended, Mettaton clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Alright darlings, I think it's time for a birthday tradition with a bit of a twist." He turned to Papyrus.

"Papyrus, darling, is everything set up for us?"

"Oh, yes Mettaton! Follow me everybody, we're going to the roof!"

The rest of the party goers looked at each other in confusion, but one could not easily deny Papyrus's enthusiasm, so they followed after the bubbly Skeleton, with Mettaton bringing up the rear.

Papyrus led them to a secluded corner on the far side of his pub, and pulled on a length of string attached to a hatch in the roof. It opened, and a ladder lowered itself from it. Once it touched the floor, Papyrus climbed quickly up it. The others followed, albeit a bit hesitantly.

**I wonder what those two have in store for us?** Chara mused idly.

Frisk shrugged. This had already far been better than he could have ever hoped. He was beginning to see why the kids he had known before had made such a big deal about how important birthday parties were.

Fortunately, it still wasn't snowing, and soon everyone was huddled together on top of the roof. Mettaton took up a position on the far end of the roof, then faced his audience.

"Alright, darlings. I took some time to look at how birthday parties work up here on the surface, and apparently, there is always a song sung."

"But! The traditional song is soo mundane, so I thought I would… liven it up a bit."

Music began to blare from Mettaton's speakers, and Frisk recognized it as the same music that had played when he had fought him live on TV in the Underground.

What followed was perhaps the most amazing rendition of Happy Birthday that Frisk had ever seen. Mettaton posed, did high heel kicks, and somehow managed to sing the song in a manner that fit both his own personal style, and the music he was singing along to.

When the song ended, fireworks fired into the air, and Frisk looked up to see his name written in the sky for a few moments before fading away.

Papyrus was the first one to start clapping, and Frisk quickly joined him, followed by the other Monsters. Mettaton bowed deeply in response.

"Thank you, darlings." he practically purred. "You've been a fantastic audience. Now why don't we head back down and-"

"Wait." Undyne spoke up and stepped forwards, gently pulling Alphys with her. Frisk's eyes widened, and a grin spread across his features.

Undyne jerked her head to the side, and Mettaton raised an eyebrow but complied with the not-so-subtle message and moved out of the way.

"U-Undyne? What…"

The fish-lady let go of Alphys, then took a couple more steps before turning to face her.

Undyne shot a quick glance at Frisk, who nodded excitedly and gave her a double thumbs up. At that, she gave a small grin revealing her yellow fangs and squared her shoulders.

"Alphys." She said, with uncharacteristic quietness and with maybe a hint of nervousness in her voice. "We've been dating for nearly a year now, and I've uh… I've liked you for a lot longer than that. You've been the most important thing in my life for a while now."

Alphys was blushing heavily, and Undyne took a step forward.

"You're the smartest, most adorable little nerd I've ever met, and I love you to pieces. I can't imagine not having you by my side. So I wanted to ask…"

She fell to one knee and pulled a small box from behind her back, flipping it open with her thumb. Inside, resting on a red velvet cushion, was a small, simple silver ring.

With pink cat ears on the top.

"Will you marry me?" She finished.

There was a collective gasp from the watchers and Alphys had covered her mouth with her hands, staring fixedly at the ring. Frisk watched in anticipation as the seconds ticked by, and Alphys still hadn't made a move. Just as Undyne was starting to look nervous, Alphys squealed and tackled the fish-woman, knocking her backwards onto the roof. Fortunately, Undyne was able to keep her grip on the box, so the ring did not go flying.

"Yes yes yes!" Alphys cried. "I didn't think… I mean, I hoped…"

Undyne set the box down then pulled herself to her feet, her arms wrapped around Alphys.

"You little nerd!" She mock-yelled, nuzzling the reptile's snout. "You had me worried for a second there! Don't scare me like that!"

"S-sorry! I just- I didn't-"

Undyne began swinging her new fiancee around, effectively drowning out her rambling.

"Hah! You're all mine now! You lost your last chance to back out, there's no turning back now!"

Frisk ran up and grabbed the box and Undyne set Alphys down, both of them laughing in delight. He tugged at Undyne's sleeve and presented her with the box.

"Huh? Wha- Oh right." Undyne took the small ring from inside the box, then took Alphys's smaller hand and slid the ring onto her finger, then knelt down and raised that hand to her lips.

"Mine." She growled possessively.

Alphys blushed again, then the two were quickly joined by the other Monsters crowding in to congratulate the two. Frisk slipped away from them, and went over to where Sans was watching the proceedings.

"Hey, kiddo. Looks like your idea worked. And to think, just a couple days ago, Undyne crashed into my house for advice on how to propose to Alphys. You're quite the matchmaker, aren't you?"

Frisk grinned widely at him.

"Heh. You're something else, aren't you, kid?"

Sans reached out and ruffled the boy's hair, earning a delighted squeak. It had taken a long time to get up to this point, but finally, everyone was happy. Frisk Dreemurr could stand with his family, and he would face the future. He was no longer alone.


	13. Epilogue

The grey infinity that was the border between dimensions. If one could stand here, they would see countless pinpricks of light, each one signifying a different reality. Everything that ever is, was, and could be, separated by a grey barrier.

Despite the tiny beacons, there was nothing but shifting, formless grey. One unused to such a sight would quickly become disoriented and confused as their brain sent them conflicting messages.

Two figures faced each other in the Place Between. Both were very well acquainted with this place, though only one of them had existed before it.

Two figures, both robed in black. One wearing a mask of gold shaped like a human face, with glowing orange light blazing from the eye sockets. The other masked in white, long cracks extending from each eye-hole. One up, the other down.

The Defiler was the first to break the silence.

"I know what you are. A ghost in the machine. Static drifting between the cracks in reality.

The other's voice was quiet, but The Defiler had no difficulty hearing him.

"And you are the essence of the leader of The Exiled. All reality shook when you fell."

Despite his face being masked, one could easily imagine a grin spreading over The Defiler's features.

"I had not thought we would meet again, Gaster."

Gaster was silent, and The Defiler gestured towards the pinprick of light behind the other.

"I must admit I was surprised. I did not think any of the creations of my oh-so-noble brethren still existed after they abandoned the reality they created. Certainly not in some backwater dimension on the edge of the Vortex." The gold-masked man leaned forward. "I wonder, were you ordered to guard that world? Or were you abandoned here when your strings were cut?"

"It makes no difference, does it? Regardless of my reasons, I will protect that world, even if it means defying you."

"It hurts, doesn't it?" The Defiler murmured. "Knowing that you were tossed to the side like so much trash. You were once mighty, Gaster. Now look at you. You barely hold the power to leave this place, let alone interact with that which you so dearly wish to protect. What happened to cause that, I wonder?"

"Do not think you can corrupt me, Broken One." Gaster's voice was firm. "I will not succumb to you, not now, not ever."

"I suppose not. You ever were stubborn when you cared about something. I knew the small skeleton's power seemed familiar. You once did more than simply observe this world, didn't you?"

The Defiler laughed, and despite the malice held within it, Gaster stood firm. Then, the man reached out a hand, conjuring his staff into it, and extended it tentatively towards Gaster. The staff almost immediately hit an invisible wall of force, halting its progress. He let out an unamused grunt.

"You would keep me from your world."

Gaster nodded.

The Defiler sighed, then turned, letting his gaze travel over the infinity surrounding them.

"There was a time when all this was mine." There was anger in his voice, and also a hint of longing. "I created, and destroyed what I saw fit. Reality existed only to be my plaything."

"Your arrogance was ever your downfall." Gaster intoned behind him. The Defiler let out a chuckle, then turned back to face the other man.

"I suppose I should thank you." The god-like being looked to the dimension Gaster was protecting. He could see the mortals down there, scurrying about like ants. Feeling oh so safe in their tiny world in an infinity of possibility. Then he looked back to Gaster.

"There was a time when, as soon as I had found my fragment, I would have immediately taken it, and wiped the world clean afterwards. Instead, I allowed the denizens to fight back, and allowed myself to be weakened to the point where even you in your shattered state could affect me. It seems I have grown… complacent."

Gaster said nothing and The Defiler continued.

"Those Hunters that have troubled me for so long. Had I truly wished it, they would be nothing more than a memory. Perhaps it is time I took things seriously again." His eyes blazed into an inferno.

"I will allow you and your realm to exist for a while longer, Gaster. But I will return for my fragment. And when I do…" He took a step closer.

"I will shatter your pathetic barrier and force you to watch while I expunge this world before killing you myself."

The Defiler made a gesture with one hand, and a black portal opened up behind him. Then he turned and disappeared through it, the walls closing behind him.

 

Long after the dark being he had once called "Master" had left, Gaster remained, still staring at the spot where he had gone. Finally, he murmured softly;

"I was not abandoned, old friend. Whatever you believe, the First have not yet given up on their creation." He raised his head and looked upwards, a smile spreading across his face.

"They are coming for you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter of Souls Entwined. However, by the time you read this, I should already have uploaded the first chapter of the next part of the Entwined File series, Armless Embrace. It's going to be a series of shorts and one-shots taking place two years after the events of Souls Entwined.


End file.
